Making my Daifuku again, this time is with anko (sweet red bean paste) and strawberry stuffing. After I had an experience with Masa's recipe, I love that soft, mochi texture that we can get from adding the sweet potato to the daifuku texture. This round I managed to get a pack of Katakuriko (potato starch) from MegaMart, so I decided to try on this Ichigo Daifuku I am going to make for this coming Asian Coffee Morning (ACM) as the theme for this month is Japanese Girls' Festival.
This round I used Nami of Just One CookBook with a minor change on the flour quantity. I made 24 pieces which is four times of the original recipe. 80g of potato starch was added to the daifuku, the original recipe is without potato starch. The taste of the combination of sweet anko, soft mochi and the juicy strawberry is just the right match!!
Thanks Nami for her wonderful illustrations! My family and me love it and I think the ACM ladies love it too as they finished the whole tray. ^^
Recipe adapted from Nami, Just One CookBook with changes
(Make 24 pieces)
Ingredients:
400g Shiratamako (Glutinous rice flour)80g Katakuriko (Potato starch)
96g sugar
720ml water
600g sweet red bean paste (I used store bought pack shipped from Melbourne ^^)
corn starch for dusting
Method:
1. Divide the sweet red bean paste into 24 small balls.2. Wrap in the clean strawberry. Leave the tip of the strawberry unwrap. Set a side.
3. Mix shiratamako, katakuriko and sugar in a bowl, mix well.
4. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spatula, gradually add water in 3 batches, mix well so that no lump of flour found.
5. As my quantity is 4 times Nami's one, I microwave the mixture in 2 batches. Pour out half the mixture into a bowl, cover remaining mixture loosely with plastic wrap.
6. Microwave the mixture with 1 min, then mix well with a wet silicon/wooden spatula. The mixture should be still whitish and floury.
7. For second time, microwave the mixture with 1 min again. Take out and mix well with wet spatula.
8. For the last time, microwave only 30 seconds, the mixture should be translucent by now.
9. Sift the corn starch on a big tray. Divide into 12 pieces.
10. Repeat the second batch mixture from step 6 to 9.
Assemble:
1. Take a piece of daifuku skin, wrap in the straberry and anko ball with the tip of strawberry sitting on the daifuku skin first. Seal up and smooth the daifuku into a ball.Note:
1. When wrapping the strawberry into anko, the hands has to be cleaned with water after each wrapping because the anko is very sticky.2. Avoid sifting too much corn starch to the daifuku skin, my daifuku skin was very sticky and it pick up lot of corn starch from the tray.3. No freezing of daifuku as it will change the soft mochi texture.
