Daifuku
A traditional Japanese confection featuring soft, glutinous rice-flour dough wrapped around red bean paste, strawberries, or apricots, optionally garnished with red peas.
Ingredients
Red peas (dried) (soaked overnight)
50g
Baking soda
a small amount
Glutinous rice flour (for the skin)
300g
Japanese superfine sugar (for the skin)
27g
Salt (for the skin)
1 pinch
Water (for the skin)
about 225ml
Syrup (water : sugar = 2 : 1) (for apricot syrup, see page 38)
50ml
Apricot liqueur (for apricot syrup)
10ml
Apricots (dried) (for apricot syrup)
10 pieces (60g)
Japanese potato starch (used as dusting flour)
as needed
Bean paste filling (see page 35)
about 325g
Strawberries
5 pieces (80g)
White bean paste filling (see page 35)
about 125g
Instructions
1
Prepare the red peas
Soak the red peas with water and baking soda overnight, rinse, then add water and simmer for about 40 minutes, and drain.
2
Make the outer skin
Mix the glutinous rice flour, sugar, and salt, add water and knead until it reaches an earlobe-like softness. Divide into pieces and flatten, line a steamer with a white cloth and steam over high heat for 20 minutes.
3
Prepare the fillings
Mix the syrup with the apricot liqueur and marinate the apricots in it for 10 minutes. Divide the bean paste filling into 5 portions; wrap strawberries with the bean paste filling; sandwich apricot slices with the white bean paste filling.
4
Shape the daifuku
Knead the steamed skin while still hot until smooth, dust with potato starch, then divide into 15 equal portions. Roll out and wrap with different fillings (red pea bean paste filling, strawberry bean paste filling, apricot white bean paste filling); reheat the skin in the microwave if it cools.
