Salted Soybean Daifuku (豆大福, Mame Daifuku)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Mushiki steamer, or a covered pot with a rack
• •Heatproof mixing bowl
• •Shamoji (wooden rice paddle), or sturdy silicone spatula
• •Bench scraper
• •Kitchen scale
• •Clean cloth for drying the beans

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the beans

   Rinse the soybeans and soak them in plenty of water for 8 to 12 hours. Drain, cover with fresh water by 2 inches, and simmer gently until tender to the center but still whole, 45 to 70 minutes depending on their age. Save 1 cup of the hot cooking liquid, dissolve 3/4 teaspoon salt in it, and let the drained beans rest in that brine for 20 minutes. Salt goes in after cooking because the beans need to soften first; salt late gives you seasoning without hard little cores. Drain and spread the beans on a clean cloth until their surfaces are dry.

   The beans should keep their shape when pressed lightly. If they collapse, they'll smear through the mochi instead of giving the clean salty bite this sweet needs.
2. 2

   Shape the anko

   Divide the chilled anko into eight 40g portions and roll each into a compact ball. Keep them covered in the refrigerator while you make the mochi. Cold anko stands still under the dough; soft, warm anko spreads and thins the skin before you're ready.

3. 3

   Prepare the starch

   Spread the katakuriko generously in a shallow tray and keep extra nearby for your hands. Mochi has no manners when it is warm, so set up the starch before the dough is cooked. Dusting the outside keeps it from clinging to you, but remember this later: too much starch on the seam keeps the daifuku from closing.

4. 4

   Mix the mochi

   Put the shiratamako in a heatproof bowl. Add the 160ml water little by little, rubbing and stirring until the grains dissolve into a smooth, milky batter, then stir in the sugar and a small pinch of salt. Shiratamako is granular, so this slow mixing matters. Hydrate it well now and the finished gyūhi, the soft mochi dough, will be smooth rather than pebbled.

5. 5

   Steam the dough

   Set the bowl in a mushiki steamer, or in a covered pot fitted with a rack, over steady simmering water. Cover with a cloth-wrapped lid and cook for 12 minutes, stir with a wet wooden paddle, then cook 8 to 10 minutes more, until the dough turns glossy, translucent, and pulls in long elastic strands. The cloth catches drips from the lid; extra water falling into the bowl makes slack dough. The sugar is not only for sweetness. It holds moisture and keeps the skin tender.

   Use a wet shamoji, a wooden rice paddle, or a sturdy silicone spatula. Dry tools cling to mochi and make you fight the dough, which is how it gets torn and dull.
6. 6

   Fold in beans

   Scrape the hot mochi onto the starch tray. Dust your hands, pat it into a rough rectangle, scatter the dried salted soybeans over it, and fold the dough over itself four or five times with a bench scraper. Work while it is still warm enough to stretch. Cold mochi tears, and too much folding crushes the beans you took the trouble to keep whole. Shape the dough into a short log and cut it into eight equal pieces.

7. 7

   Wrap the filling

   Take one piece of mochi and flatten it into a round about 4 inches across, keeping the starch-dusted side against your palm. Brush excess starch from the upper surface, set one anko ball in the center, and draw the edges up around it. Pinch the seam firmly closed, then set the daifuku seam-side down and cup it gently into a round. The outside needs starch so it won't stick to your fingers; the seam needs bare mochi so it will seal.

   If the seam refuses to close, brush away starch and pinch again with slightly damp fingers. Don't add more starch to the trouble spot. That only makes the door harder to shut.
8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Let the daifuku rest seam-side down for 15 minutes, then brush off any heavy patches of starch. Serve at room temperature, preferably the same day. The mochi relaxes as it sits, the beans settle into the skin, and the salt begins doing its quiet work against the anko.

Chef Tips

• •Choose small dried soybeans with unbroken skins. Canned soybeans are usually too wet and soft for mame daifuku; they break in the dough and give you paste where you wanted beans.
• •Many Tokyo makers use aka endō, firm red peas, for this style. If you find them, cook and salt them the same way. Use the bean you choose honestly, and keep it whole.
• •The anko must be firm enough to hold a ball. If yours is loose, cook it in a dry pan over low heat for a few minutes, stirring, then chill it again. Watery filling makes the seam fail, and no amount of starch fixes that.
• •Shiratamako gives the best home texture for daifuku skin. Mochiko can stand in when it must, but mix it patiently and expect a slightly less supple chew.
• •Don't refrigerate finished daifuku unless you have no choice. Cold hardens mochi. For longer keeping, freeze them the day they're made and thaw still wrapped at room temperature.

Advance Preparation

• •The soybeans can be cooked and salted up to 2 days ahead. Keep them refrigerated, then drain and dry them well before folding them into the mochi.
• •The anko can be made or bought 2 days ahead. Portion it into balls while cold, then keep covered in the refrigerator until wrapping time.
• •Finished daifuku are best within 8 hours at cool room temperature. To keep them longer, wrap each piece tightly and freeze for up to 1 month; thaw wrapped at room temperature.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 100g)