Every year, when the strawberry floods in the market, “pretty foods with the strawberries” image starts disturbing my mind too. The desire to put it on a dessert is much bigger than eating it  sono mama (Japanese term to imply something “as it is”) like other fruits. Haha.. so here is the mochi version. See the recipe below.

Recipe for ICHIGO DAIFUKU MOCHI

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INGREDIENTS

》150 gram (1 cup) MOCHI FLOUR (もち粉), or any kind of rice flour in Japan 👉🏻 I used 上新粉 (joushinko) which is cheaper than mochi or shiratamako flour, even it’s sold in 💯 yen shop 😂

⚠🇲🇨 Jangan pakai tepung beras dari Indonesia karena teksturnya beda sama beras Jepang, nggak akan bisa kenyal begini ntar

》30 gram (2 Tbs) SUGAR 👉🏻 I used powdered sugar

⚠ Sift together sugar and flour before use

》200 ml (1 cup) WATER

》POTATO STARCH aka katakuriko (片栗粉) as needed, this is used during working with the mochi dough

》FOOD COLORING if needed

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For filling:

》minimal 250 gram sweetened RED BEANS PASTE aka an (餡), use koshian (漉し餡) instead which is finer than tsubuan (粒餡)👌

》STRAWBERRIES, pick the small ones

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METHOD

(1) Microwave use 👉🏻 In a heat-proof bowl, mix flour-sugar mixture with the water, stir until all powder is dissolved. Cover with plastic wrap, steam in 600 W for 30 seconds.

⚠ In this step, I had divided the white and pink mochi dough in the different biwls and steamed them together. Pink mochi got ready sooner because it’s less volume.

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For steaming mochi dough, basically you can use microwave, steamer pot, or even sauce pan like custard making (yet be careful of overcooked risk). I used microwave for easy handling. Don’t worry it’s totally safe for your health 😊

(2) Take dough out of microwave/pot, uncover, and stir 👉🏻 some of the dough may have been clotted, that’s what we want to see

(3) Repeat step 2 for 3-4 times until dough gets like glue and pick able with your hand

(4) In between the time of waiting your dough ready, make the fillings. Scale koshian for two types of mochi:

⁃ 25 gram koshian balls for mochi with the strawberry outside 👉🏻 we’re going to put the strawberry on top after split the mochi + filling 3/4 height 

⁃ 20 gram koshian balls for mochi with the strawberry inside 👉🏻 flatten it and make it thicker in the center, then use it to wrap each strawberry (see my video)

⚠ Use the plastic wrap to help you shape the balls

(5) In the table/countertop you’ll use for shaping mochi, sprinkle katakuriko to avoid the dough gets sticky on the surface. Flatten the dough with your palm or roller, make it 3-5 mm thick, cut into squares.

⚠ I tried with round shapes, but it left much remaining dough which made the bottom side of mochi wasn’t good look (the overlapped folds seemed so obvious)

(6) Put koshian ball in the center of squared dough, bring all sides of square to the top covering the koshian ball, make them folded just like when you wrap a box with fabric (see picture below)

(7) Pinch the dough layers in the bottom of mochi to make it neat and smooth

For the daifuku mochi with the strawberry inside

(8) Split the mochi in half heightway to see how beautiful the strawberry and paste combination look like

For the daifuku mochi with the strawberry outside

(8) Cut the center from the top to the bottom for about 3/4 height of mochi, then put strawberry on it

Enjoy! Keep your mochi moist by storing it in a covered container for later consumption.