Okinawa rice cake, from the blog Nippon Nin (via Gourmande in Osaka)

I made this recipe from the blog Nippon Nin. Thanks for this rare recipe. It's made with Okinawan kuzato (black sugar) of course, and mochiko rice flour, azuki beans, coconut milk. Mine is much less sweet as I used unsweeted azuki paste (I had just boiled a big bag). I also put coconut flakes on top. Inside it's soft. I thought that was not cooked enough. No, that must be close to the normal texture. Hot that was not great, I was disappointed. Bu … Read More

via Gourmande in Osaka

From the shop : kashiwa-mochi, oak leaf sweet (via Gourmande in Osaka)

Lucky ! You've found a pearl in your oak leaf. This sweet is eaten in this season, and particularly on May 5th , for the Children Day. This one is bought. That's why it is more perfect than mines. Hey, baker is a job and you don't get the professional skill overnight. It's really shiny, and harder in texture than daifuku mochi. The recipe is different. Use the little wood knife to cut it… It's filled with koshi-an (smooth anko bean paste). Good … Read More

via Gourmande in Osaka

Ume plum blossoms for an early Spring tea (via Gourmande in Osaka)

Ume (Japanese sour plum) trees are blossoming in Osaka. Their fragrance is like in a dream. Old style yatsuhashi sweets (from a shop, not home-made). They are a specialty tea cake of Kyoto, whose production started in Yatsuhashi (8 bridge street) in 17th Century. The oldest ones were yaki yatsuhashi that are cookies, shape in half cylinder, like the bridge that gave the name. Today, it's nama yatsuhashi (fresh time), a more recent type. My green … Read More

via Gourmande in Osaka

Setsubun (Japan’s last day of Winter) (via Gourmande in Osaka)

< For the last day of Winter and the start of spring… the Japanese tradition is to scare of the oni (devils) by throwing roast soy beans at them. Well, I prefered those wagashi (Japanese traditional cakes) with my tea. They are shaped like devils. Wagashi Saga : Photo-menu of all Japanese sweet posts. … Read More

via Gourmande in Osaka

Whole and smooth energizing b’fast (via Gourmande in Osaka)

In Winter you could stay in bed all day. You need reasons to get up… Like this, ready in 5 minutes. This is genmai mochi, brown rice mochi. It's a macrobiotic thing, not cheap. In the waffle-maker, you get smaller moffles. Mikan orange home-made jam. Spinach, an old grapefruit and a starchy apple… Juiced. … Read More

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Breaking the mirror mochi (via Gourmande in Osaka)

On New Year, you've seen I had this decoration. This white pile with a plastic orange on top is the kagami mochi (mirror mochi). But that was a fake plastic one, you can see real mochi on the side. They were hidden inside. I replaced the false orange. Some people use real mochi : (photo found on google) What I call "real mochi" is cooked sticky rice, pounded into a paste, and let dry. It becomes solid blocks. For "soft sweets" with mochi see daif … Read More

via Gourmande in Osaka

Modern mochi, the moffle way (via Gourmande in Osaka)

No Japanese new year without mochi (blocks of pounded cooked sticky rice)… There are classics way to serve them, yaki-mochi (grilled chewy), boiled in soup, okaki (grilled crispy). This is the lazy way mochi… To have the authentic ones, certified by the Moffle Academy, you absolutely need to buy a moffle maker of the authentic moffle brand : As you see, it's a robot piglet from Star Trek. It's not cheap, but if it comes from another era, plan … Read More

via Gourmande in Osaka

Strawberry daifuku mochi

My grand-parents produced strawberries for a living, so I know the beast well enough to be sure it is not a Winter fruit in the Northern hemisphere. But in Japan… they heard there was Christmas in other countries and that seemed fun. So they all wanted to Santa and dress in red. And eat read fruits… like strawberry. Now it’s part of the totally kitsch Japanese kurisumasu…

If you want to see where they come from, and discover those I’ll eat next year probably, visit the Shizuoka Gourmet.

So I know it’s bad, not ecological… and they are not really good. They are sour… Well, I’ve bought a few, a handful.

The trick is to hide them in ball of anko (azuki bean sweet paste).

Prepare mochi.

Wagashi Saga : Photo-menu of all Japanese sweet posts, and recipe posts.

And make ichigo daifuku mochi. OK, the shape is… artistic today. They were delicious anyway.

They go well with a bowl of foamy matcha ceremony green tea… unceremonially served.

1 daifuku :
Cal 137 F0.4g C30.2g P3.3g

Choco-coconut hari-nezumi (via Colorfood Daidokoro Gourmande in Osaka)

Hari-nezumi mochi are a style of wagashi (Japanese sweet) that exists mostly on this blog. I wonder why they are not more popular outside… Author hari-nezumi = hedgehog Lemon hedgehog Today, this is a daifuku mochi. The mochi around is made from mochiko, cooked in microwave. Inside, it is anko (azuki bean paste) with cocoa and a little instant coffee. Around coconut shreds. Making anko (tsubuan and koshian) from the beans. Easy recipe. choco-ch … Read More

via Colorfood Daidokoro Gourmande in Osaka

After-Eight daifuku mochi (via Colorfood Daidokoro Gourmande in Osaka)

A daifuku mochi filled with chocolate flavored an and hold by mint flavored mochi. Don't look for this flavor in Daimaru, they don't have a "Gourmande in Osaka Wagashi" stall there. Not yet… That's invention. And a good one, believe me. They didn't live long… schlurp ! Over. I wanted more, but I had no more mint ! choco-chip matcha-an daifuku The leaves are lemon balm, as I said, I used up all the mint in the recipe. I pasted fresh mint leave … Read More

via Colorfood Daidokoro Gourmande in Osaka