Daifuku Mochi (大福餅)

A traditional Japanese confectionery filled with traditional homemade red bean and black sesame paste.

Chewy, soft mochi filled with homemade sweet red bean paste and sweetened black sesame paste :) 

> Origin: Japanese
> Cost: Cheap
> Ease: Easy

   I do realize it's been forever since I last posted. I don't have any excuses besides the fact that Anime North had me sewing day and night, and my course had me studying for la plupart de Juin. In any case, this was requested a long while ago by somebody, so here it is and I'm sorry for the delay! Honestly, boxed mochi isn't expensive to buy. In fact, it's probably even more convenient if you went out to buy it yourself, assuming you live near an Asian supermarket. If you don't, you may find it difficult to find glutinous rice flour, which is pretty essential. In any case, this is the easy/lazy way of making mochi, but it works, so why not? :P However if you don't have heat resistant hands (like I do), you need to be careful with this recipe, I'm not sure what I can tell you. Typically, you'd be pounding the mochi with a kine in an usu (mallet and... mortar-type thing), but here, I use my hands to do so. Please be careful ): ! 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup glutinous rice flour (shiratama-ko) 
• If you can't find shiratama-ko, you can use mochi-ko with a 1 tbsp of corn or potato starch.
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• This is optional! You can use 2/3 cup of water, but I like the fragrance the coconut milk adds. You can change the ratio however you'd like as long as it adds up to 2/3 cup, but I wouldn't use too much coconut milk as it might overpower the filling. 
• Anko paste filling
• 1 cup dry red beans
• 1 cup sugar (or to taste)
• Black sesame paste filling
• 1 cup black sesame seeds 
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar (or to taste)

Methods:
Preparing the Anko Paste *As the process for this is long, prepare the anko paste ahead of time, you can keep it in the fridge!:

1. Soak the red beans in water for at least 7-8 hours (best to do it overnight). 
2. Drain the water and pour the beans into a pot. Add enough water to fully immerse the beans. Bring to a boil and test for softness. If it isn't soft enough to easily smush, they're not ready. Keep the beans on low-med heat (simmering), this may take up to 2-3 hours. **If the water gets too foamy, change the water! 
3. Still on low-med heat (simmering), when the beans are ready, smush them all with a wooden spoon so you get a soupy anko-coloured consistency. 
4. Add the sugar, you can add more if you like your anko sweeter! Keep stirring until the mixture becomes thick enough that you can scrape the beans and see the bottom of the pot (without the mixture pooling over it). 
5. Take it off heat and let it cool (it will harden as it cools). If you did this the night before, cover it and put it in the fridge. 
6. When cooled and paste-like, make small 1 inch or so balls. 

Preparing the Black Sesame Paste:

1. Using a coffee grinder or whatever grinder you own, grind the black sesame seeds until they become like a powder. 
2. On low-med heat, pour the powder into a pot and add a couple of tablespoons of water. Stir and add the sugar. Keep stirring until a thick black paste forms, make sure it's thick enough by doing the anko test in step 4. 
3. Taste the paste, add more sugar if it's not sweet enough (it should be pretty sweet) and mix it well. When it's ready, take it off heat and let it cool. 
4. When cool and paste-like, roll them into 1 inch or so balls. 

Making the Mochi: 

1. In a microwaveable bowl, mix the coconut milk, water and sugar together. Portion by portion, add in the glutinous rice flour until mixed well.
2. Prepare a flat surface (pan/table/etc.) and dust it with some glutinous rice flour. 
3. Microwave the mixture for 2 minutes. Stir the dough with a wooden spoon. Put it in for another minute or so until the dough inflates (keep watch on the dough, if it's inflated, take it out!) 
4. Quickly take out the dough, dust your hands with glutinous rice flour, and throw the dough onto the dusted surface. The dough will be SUPER hot and sticky, so be careful and dust your hands well! 
5. Using a knife or a bread dough cutter, separate the dough into 12 pieces quickly and flatten them with your palm. (Alternatively, you can flatten the dough first and then separate the dough into 12 pieces, it's up to you.) Make sure you do this while the dough is still hot and form-able. 
6. Take a ball of filling (whichever you like) and stretch the dough over the filling to wrap it. Secure it on one end by squeezing the ends of the dough together until it sticks (it'll work better if the dough is still hot/warm). Repeat until you run out of filling/dough :).