Today I decided to make these delicious Anko (Red Bean) Daifuku Mochi. Originally, pre-covid my family and I had been planning on traveling to Japan, and I was so excited to see all of the sights and experience the culture and also learn how to make mochi. I thought, "how cool would it be to learn how to make mochi in Japan?" Unfortunately, life had other plans, but I still wanted to learn to make mochi in the mean time since it could be awhile before it's safe to travel again.
Initially, I tried making ice cream filled mochi, but sadly those didn't turn out well, as the ice cream kept freezing my hands and simultaneously melting, and the mochi would get too hard if I put it in the freezer and melt immediately once I took it out. Alas, I decided to make these daifuku mochi with anko a.k.a. red bean filling, as this was one of my favourite versions growing up. I actually didn't even realize that there was a different name for mochi with a sweet filling until I decided to look up a recipe for how to make them. As daifuku mochi are different than pure mochis, which have no filling inside.
Anyways, on to how making these mochi went, I really liked how it was simple and easy to make in relation to how difficult and time consuming they can be to make, as I used the microwave version. A few things to keep in mind is to make sure to always rinse your spatula prior to stirring the mochi mixture in between each microwave set. Also, to use plenty of cornstarch or potato starch when rolling out the mochis, on your hands, rolling pin, parchment paper/silicone mat, and cookie cutter.
A few modifications I made was using a silicone baking sheet instead of parchment paper to roll out the mochis, so that it wouldn't move around when I was rolling them out. Also, since I didn't have an exact size for the cookie cutter, I used a glass cup instead, which worked out well. I also ended up using cornstarch instead of the traditional potato starch, as I didn't have any on hand and opted for using a pre-made red bean (anko) paste that I bought from T&T.
This recipe makes about 22-24 mochis, however, I forgot to re-roll out the mochi dough and ended up with only 11 mochi, but it's okay I'll remember this for next time. Especially since they were a fan favourite at our house and taste best when eaten within two days of making them. Overall, these mochis turned out really well and I can't wait to make them again and try out other versions such as ones with crushed peanuts, black sesame, and matcha. Thanks for reading and have fun baking! Let me know what your favourite Japanese desserts (wagashi) are and what you'd like to see me bake next :)
Here is the link to the recipe I used: justonecookbook.com
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