- [Narrator] It's chewy, stretchy, and so delicious.
Mochi is a sweet or savory rice cake
that's been enjoyed for centuries.
You may have had it filled with ice cream,
red bean, or on its own as a topping.
Today, we're going to show you how to make daifuku,
which is just a variation of mochi
that has a sweet filling inside.
There are a ton of varieties,
but we'll be stuffing ours
with three of the most common fillings,
red-bean paste, strawberries and matcha ice cream.
Okay, time to make some mochi magic.
Mochi is made from a glutenous rice called mochigome,
which is steamed, and then pounded
into the smooth, chewy consistency.
Traditionally in Japan, the rice is first soaked in water,
and then steamed in boxes called seiro.
The steamed rice is then transferred
to a mortar, known as usu,
and pounded with wooden mallets called kine.
A rhythm forms amongst those pounding the mochi
and the person turning and wetting the mochi.
Once the pounding is complete,
the mochi is ready to be shaped.
We know not everyone has gigantic mallets at home.
So today, we're gonna show you how to make mochi
using a sweet and super-easy mochi base called gyuhi.
To make gyuhi, you will need mochiko, a sweet rice flour.
Mochiko is made out of the same glutenous rice
that gives mochi its amazing texture.
We'll start by mixing together our mochiko,
sugar, and water in a microwave-safe bowl
until the mixture is smooth.
To color our strawberry daifuku mochi pink,
we're going to add a teaspoon of dragon fruit powder
to the mixture.
And to color our matcha ice-cream daifuku green,
we'll add a teaspoon of matcha powder.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap,
and microwave it in 60-second intervals.
We're cooking our mochi mixture in a microwave,
but you can also use a stovetop, rice cooker, or steamer.
The mixture should look halfway transparent, like this.
Give it a quick mix, cover it again,
and then pop it back in the microwave
for 15- to 30-second intervals,
and make sure to keep stirring in-between.
We really want to be careful
not to burn our mochi mixture.
You'll know when it's ready
when it's super glossy, like this.
Cover your work surface in cornstarch,
and pour the mochi mixture out.
It's going to be super hot,
so just let it sit for a minute to cool down.
Mochi dough is super sticky,
so it's really important that you also dust
the mochi and your hands with cornstarch.
Next, we'll roll out the dough, using a rolling pin,
until it's 1/2" thick.
Then we'll use a pizza cutter to cut
out 3x3" mochi-dough squares.
You should have four squares per color.
Okay, let's get into our beautiful fillings.
The first filling we're going to make is red-bean paste.
You can buy pre-made paste in grocery stores,
but we like to make it from scratch
to control its moisture levels.
First, we'll rinse 1/2 cup of red beans under cold water.
We love adzuki beans from Hokkaido,
because they're smaller, and a bit more tender
than the other kinds.
Then we'll add the beans and 1/4 cups of water
to a rice cooker, and cook for about an hour and a half.
The beans should still be firm, like this.
We'll rinse the beans one more time,
and put them back in the rice cooker
with another 1/2 cup of water.
We'll cook the bean mixture
again for an hour and a half,
until the beans are super tender, and cook through.
We'll sweeten it up with some sugar and salt,
and just let it sit in the rice cooker one last time,
for about 30 minutes.
(quiet upbeat music)
Then, we'll mash everything together,
and spread the paste onto a small baking tray
to let it cool down.
You want it to feel pliable,
and not too firm, like play dough.
If it's too dry, refrigerate it
for at least two hours, or up to overnight.
If it's too wet, microwave it in 90-second intervals
until the water has evaporated.
Cover the red-bean paste with plastic wrap,
and let it cool to room temperature.
We'll use some of this for our red bean daifuku,
and some for our strawberry daifuku.
To prepare a strawberry daifuku filling,
we'll cover four strawberries in and red-bean paste.
Start by rolling the red-bean paste into a small ball,
and then flattening it into a disc.
Then, bring in your beautiful strawberry,
and work the red-bean paste
from the top down to the bottom of it, like this.
For fruit-filled mochi, it's best to pick
ripe and delicious fruits such as strawberries,
pineapples, and kiwis.
Strawberries are the best for beginners,
because they're not as watery,
and they hold up their shape wall.
Now we'll cover these, and let them chill in the fridge
while we prepare our matcha ice-cream filling.
Preparing your filling for ice-cream mochi
is really simple.
It's crucial that your ice cream is super cold
so it doesn't melt
while you're trying to wrap it.
That can get messy, trust me.
Our trick for this is scooping out the ice cream
in advance, and freezing it for at least an hour
to let it really harden.
Now, we're ready to put these cute mochi babies together.
We'll start with our red-bean daifuku.
Place one of the mochi squares in your palm,
and add two tablespoons of red-bean paste in the center.
Bring the edges of the dough up and over
to seal like this.
Make sure your fingers are adequately dusted
with cornstarch so the mochi doesn't stick.
Blot the seam side down on the dusted surface,
and trim off any excess mochi.
You can save the extra pieces
for a well-deserved snack now or later.
That was easy, right?
Let's do it again with our strawberries.
For our strawberry daifuku,
we'll wrap our wrap our strawberries
in our gorgeous pink mochi using the same technique.
Place a pink square of mochi in your hand,
and place a wrapped strawberry
in the center of the mochi.
The bottom tip should be pointing down, like this.
Now bring the edges of the dough up and over,
to seal like we did last time.
Again, we'll blot the sticky side on the dusted surface.
Okay, I promise you, this will all be worth it.
Now it's time for our delicious matcha ice-cream daifuku.
Place one of the green mochi squares
in the palm of your hand,
and drop a scoop of ice cream in the center.
Our ice cream is now cold, and hard,
and much easier to work with.
Connect the four seams with your other hand,
and once it's wrapped up, blot the sticky part again.
Make sure to set your mochi seam-side down.
Now, we finally get to eat them.
And you'll want to eat them right away,
because nothing compares
to chewy, delicious texture of fresh mochi.
Whether it's a red-bean, strawberry,
or matcha ice-cream filled daifuku,
we guarantee each of your cute creations will be delicious.
You can package them in little cupcake holders
and give them as gifts,
or you can have a little mochi party,
and eat them with your family and friends.
You can find the recipes for all three daifukus
on tasty.co.
We really hope you love this as mochi as we do.
(air whooshing) - (chuckling) Oh yes.
(upbeat music continues)