Strawberry (Daifuku) Mochi

 

We went to a mochi shop called Two Ladies Kitchen on the Big Island of Hawaii that sold all sorts of different flavors of mochi (different fruit, cookies and cream, marshmallow, red bean, other flavors).  Ranier Cherry Mochi!!  They were famous for their strawberry mochi, but each one was $3.25 or $3.50!  Very expensive.  But they were pretty good!  My only complaint is that the mochi skins were a bit too thick for my liking.  So of course, after we returned from our trip, I was very motivated to try making my own!

Strawberry mochi typically has one strawberry, red bean paste, wrapped in a rice flour skin (mochi).  Some people (non-Asian) have a harder time liking the bean paste, so I figured I'd also try to make some with Nutella instead of red bean paste.

I did a bunch of research reading other blogs on how to best make mochi.  People recommended shiratamako rice flour instead of mochiko, and it was supposed to produce smoother and more chewy mochi than normal mochiko rice flour.  So I went to the local Japanese market and picked some up.

It was surprisingly easy to make, but quite messy because the rice flour is very sticky and hot when you take it out of the microwave.  The final product is totally worth it and delicious though!

Recipe adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/recipes/cookies-small-cakes/strawberry-daifuku-mochi-recipe/

10 strawberries (not too big ones)
100 g shiratamako (glutinous rice flour)
50 g sugar
150 mL cold water
potato starch for dusting
Red bean paste and/or nutella

Wash and dry the strawberries, cut the green tops off. Cover each strawberry with red bean paste or nutella.  I found this easier to do with fingers instead of a knife.

Mix the rice flour, sugar, water in a microwave-safe bowl and stir well to make sure everything is dissolved properly.  Microwave on high for 2 mins, stir, and repeat once or twice until the mix is thick and sort of translucent.

Pour potato starch into a large rimmed baking dish.  Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto the potato starch, and pour some more on top.  Flatten the dough a bit, and then use a pastry scraper to cut it into 10 pieces (square-ish is better than triangular).

Take a piece of dough and stretch it out a bit, and wrap it around a strawberry, sealing it on the bottom, and coat with more potato starch to prevent it from sticking.  Put it on a plate to cool.

Note: the dough gets less flexible and stretchy as it cools, so work fast!

Fruit mochi are supposedly best the day they're made, but we did an experiment and left a few in the fridge overnight, and they were still good the next day :)