recipe for mochigashi?

Question

I need a recipe or site with a recipe for this japanese sweet cake.

Answer 1

Plain mochi is easy -- steam some rice and keep pounding until it's mochi. Of course, the best mochi will be made from mochi rice made in a rice cooker (or steamed over a wood fire, like my family does it) and pounded in one of those big wooden things. But I'm pretty sure you could do it in a mortar and pestle.

Add bean paste in the middle, and you've got daifuku.

You might have better luck with a rice powder called "shiratama-kou". Here's the directions from my packet: Add 90 cc of water gradually to 100 g.of powder until it is fairly soft. Form into 15 mm. balls. Place in boiling water and boil 3 or 4 minutes after they rise to the top. Put in a colander and rinse. Put on a stick, top with kinako and sugar, or bean paste.

You can usually get bean paste at an Asian market. But my family makes it by boiling azuki beans until soft, drain. Mash, and add sugar to taste. Beans can have different kinds of sweetness according to the year, so you need to do it to taste, not to standard measurements.