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You’re probably familiar with strawberry daifuku, or mochi filled with anko (sweet bean paste) and a strawberry, now fairly ubiquitous in Japanese food markets and festivals.  But this method works with most fruit and not surprisingly, fig works exceptionally well here. 

Texturally interesting and obviously delicious (if you like figs, but who doesn’t?).

I don't often see people use kirimochi in this way - kirimochi is often left as a block, either toasted or grilled, but they can easily be boiled down which make daifuku making very easy! 

fig daifuku | いちじく大福

Side

Everyone has that one dish where the mere mention brings backs memories of a person, and for me, that's kinako.  It's a perfect sweet snack or dessert.   

Kinako is roasted soybean powder and my maternal grandmother always loved eating it, mixed with sugar, and covering sticky and glutinous mochi.  It's an earthy ingredient and I'm often surprised it hasn't become more mainstream as time has passed but when mixed with sugar (and perhaps even with a pinch of salt), it becomes a rather addictive flavour.  I tend to think mochi is really just the vehicle to enjoy this kinako sugar mixture. 

My mother also loves kinako mochi and as she showed me her process of making it, much as my grandmother did, it's one of those "recipes" where ingredients are more-or-less eyeballed and to personal taste.  My family (as well as Japanese, more generally) have a sweet leaning palette so feel free to adjust the below to your preferences!  

My family tends to boil mochi as our preferred method however if you prefer to toast or grill it, it'll still be delicious. 

kinako mochi | きな粉餅

Frying

We always had bags of senbei (Japanese rice crackers) at home growing up, usually a combo of different types but my favourite were rice crackers in a salty sweet shoyu (soy sauce) glaze and wrapped in nori. 

Isobeyaki, a common grilled (or toasted) mochi - clearly reminds me of this but is objectively more decadent: soft chewy and slightly charred mochi, an umami sweet sauce and then texturally fun thanks to the crunch of the nori.  Alternatively, the mochi can also be toasted in the oven or even boiled.  The beauty of mochi. 

Once you have your hands on some kiri mochi, the rest of the prep is fairly straight forward and you probably have nearly everything you need in your pantry.  And eat these whilst they're still warm and gooey! 

isobeyaki mochi | 磯辺焼

Breakfast

Sautéing

Mochi is a perfect canvas for flavour and this holds particularly true when eaten with daikon oroshi, or grated daikon radish, flavoured with ginger, dashi, and scallions.  This is a common garnish often seen with grilled or fried foods due to its freshness and slight spice.  And on that note, do taste the daikon oroshi before using it for this dish as I often find that the heat and spice of daikon can really vary so you may want to adjust the flavours and seasoning.

daikon oroshi mochi | 大根おろし餅

Nut-Free

Gluten-Free

Baking

There are many dishes I associate with my mom and zenzai is one of them; we didn’t grow up making this often but it’s always the first choice of Japanese desserts for mom if on offer.

Kiri mochi comes to the rescue again and is simply baked in the oven - the texture is incredible and soaks up all of the delicious red bean soup. Using prepared anko, or sweeter azuki beans, makes this satisfying dessert very easy - you can opt for making it from scratch but comfort cooking often is helped when it’s easy!

Super easy one! The soup is 200g prepared anko (sweet azuki beans) + 100ml water, but add more or less based on preference and bring to a low simmer. You can add a small pinch of salt but often the prepared sweet beans have this!  

zenzai | ぜんざい

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