Kudzu Mochi Modoki - Arrowroot Mochi Style Soymilk Jello

Easy to make Japanese style gelatine dessert. I used jelly made with Soymilk instead of Kudzu (or Kuzu) Mochi, molasses instead of Kuro Mitsu (Japanese style brown sugar syrup).


What I used (Makes 4 servings):

• 2 envelopes KNOX unflavored gelatine
• 1/2 cup cold soymilk
• 1 1/2 cup soymilk, heated to boiling
  
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened Kinako (click for the recipe)
  
• 1/4 cup of molasses

Directions:

1. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup of soymilk in a small container or bowl and let stand 1 minute. Add hot soymilk and stir until gelatin completely dissolves, about 5 minutes.
   
2. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. Cut into 1-inch squares.
3. Devide jelly cubes into four dishes. Sprinkle unsweetened Kinako and molasses over the cubes to your liking.

"It taste like sweets grandma serves at her house in Japan!" is my daughter's comment. You can use green tea or coffee in place of soymilk for variations.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Kinako Mochi Recipe - Japanese Rice Cake covered with Soy Bean Powder

These are Kinako Mochi made with my whole wheat Mochi!


You just cover Maru-Mochi (round rice cake) while they are still moist and soft with Kinako (soy bean powder with sugar). I would like to keep mochi in a dish full of powder for about 1 to 2 hours and roll them occasionally. With the moisture from Mochi, Kinako makes a nice thin paste over mochi this way!

I have recipes for Mochi and Kinako in separate blogs.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Kinako Recipe - Soy Powder for Japanese Sweets

I'm not sure if you can call this a recipe, but I thought some people might want to know how to make them....


What I used:

• 1 cup of dried soy beans
• 1 cup of sugar

Directions:

1. Roast soy beans in a pan slowly in a medium heat on a stove top for about 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn them. You want to make them nicely browned. Once you count more than 10 beans pop, you are done.
   
2. Grind the roasted beans in a grinder.
3. Add sugar and mix.

The above is a photo of Kinako Mochi (Rice Cake covered with Soy Bean Powder). If you are lucky enough to live close to a Japanese/Asian grocery store, you can buy pre-made Kinako powder. You can also check Japanese Food Gifts. Asian Food Grocer offers great variety in Asian foods and food-related items, including utensils, cookware, recipes, snacks, candy, and much more.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Whole Wheat Mochi Recipe - Japanese Rice Cake Recipe

This is a non-traditional recipe for a pretty traditional tasting mochi using a grinder and a pressure cooker. You can use a microwave instead of a pressure cooker also. 5 to 10 minutes depends on microwaves.

What I used:

• 1 cup of whole wheat sweet brown rice (you cannot use regular short grain sushi rice )
  
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt
  

• Some cornstarch to keep mochi from sticking to each other

Directions:

1. Grind sweet brown rice with a grinder. (you can use store bought sweet brown rice powder if you want. I just can't get them at where I live.)
2. Mix the ground rice with water well. Use a mixing bowl you can put in a pressure cooker.
3. Add some water in a Pressure cooker, put the bowl with the rice mixture in the cooker. Cook the mixture for 10 minutes after the pressure regulator begins to rock. Let the cooker cool - do not put a cold water to let it cool faster.
4. Put the hardened mochi dough onto a hard surface. Use water to keep the dough from sticking to things. Add salt and kneed dough by folding for 3 to 5 minutes. Add water if necessary to make the dough moderately stiff, but still elastic. Now your Mochi is done!

How to make Maru-Mochi (round mochi):

1. Divide the dough into 12 pieces.
   
2. Shape each portion into round. Use water to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
   
3. Dust them with cornstarch.
   

How to make Noshi-Mochi (flat square mochi):

1. Move the dough onto a baking sheet, plastic wrapped and powdered with cornstarch, and spread it flat by hands to about 1/2 inch thick.
   
2. Sprinkle cornstarch on top, cover the top with a plastic wrap as well.
3. Once the dough is hard enough - 2 to 4 hours in a fridge should do - cut them into about 2 inchs by 3 inchs rectangles. Dust the cut surfaces with cornstarch.

These Mochi should stay soft for a couple of days in a fridge. You can freeze them also. When you are ready to use them, you can just pop them into a toaster oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls, An-Pan, and Cheesy Dinner Rolls

I was inspired by cafenelison's Baked Buns with Red Bean Paste! I tried out making Dinner Rolls stuffed with Anko and with Cheese (not together!). Japanese version's Baked Buns with Red Bean Paste are called An-Pan. They are usually wrapped in a dinner roll type of dough. They turned out pretty good.


I used a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book for a reference and changed it around a little.

What I used:

2 cups of wholewheat flour
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 beaten egg

1. Heat up soy milk until warm. Add yeast to the milk and let it rise for 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Mix all the ingredients along with the yeast and milk.

3. Kneed the dough for 6 to 8 minutes till it is smooth and elastic. (I used my KitchenAid mixer for this.)

4. Shape dough into a ball. Place in a greased bowl. Turn once. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double.

5. Punch dough down. Divide dough into 24 balls. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes.

6. Shape dough into your desired shapes. The ones in the photo are butterhorns. I made small wedges and loosely rolled them from the wide ends toward the points.

7. Place them on lightly greased baking sheets. cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size.

8. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until rolls sound hollow. Immediately remove from pan. Cool on wire racks.


An-Pan Recipe: At step 6, Roll each portion of dough to 4 inch circle. Put 2 tablespoons of Anko in the middle. Pull edges and pinch them together and place them pinched side down on to baking sheets. Move on to step 7, then 8.

Cheesy Dinner Roll Recipe: At step 6, put a cheese stick cut into 2 inches at the wide end of the wedges and roll them with it. Make sure cheese is covered all the way around by dough. move on to step 7, then 8.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

An Kibi Dango - Millet Dumplings with Sweet Red Bean Paste Topping

I'm not sure if I can call this a recipe.... I just pour my homemade Anko over Kibidango, It was great!


Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Oshiruko with Kibidango - Sweet Red Bean Soup with Millet Dumplings

Traditionally, Oshiruko is made with Mochi or Shiratama (both of them are rice cakes - one made from steamed rice, the other made from sweet rice flour). I just replaced Mochi with my homemade Kibidango (Millet Dumpling).

You will need:

• 1/2 cup Anko (sweet red bean paste)
• 2 cups of water
• 6 Kibidango (Millet Dumplings)

1. Mix Anko and water in a pan and bring them to boil.

2. Stir the mixture till Anko is all desolved. Add Kibidango and simmer for a couple minutes.

You can use more/less Anko to adjust the sweetness to your liking.

Please check out my Mochi recipe! Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Anko - Sweet Red Bean Paste

I recently found out that the small red beans are the number one antioxidant-rich food. Red beans happened to be one of my favorite foods. Many traditional Japanese sweets are made with Anko (sweet red bean paste). My husband hates it, my daughter and I love it....

Here is the recipe I use to make them. Many people suggest to boil the beans once and change water to make the paste tastier, but I don't do that because I don't want to drain out nutrients along with the water.

You will need:

• 1 cup of small red beans (Adzuki Beans)
• 1 cup of brown sugar

1. Wash the beans in a pot. Cover them with enough water and slowly bring them to a boil.

2. Let it simmer for 3 to 4 hours or until the beans are soft. Make sure you have enough water for the whole time. (You can soak the beans overnight and cut down the cooking time to 1 to 2 hours.)

3. Add suger 1/4 cup at a time over 10 minutes once beans are soft.

4. Simmer more until water is almost gone. Beans will soak up more water after you stop cooking, so make sure you take them off of the burner while it is still somewhat runny.

That's it! You can use this paste to make Oshiruko (sweet red bean soup), as a topping for Mochi (rice cake), and for many other dishes! Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.