fig daifuku | いちじく大福
Kenji Morimoto is a London-based Japanese American food writer and content creator who specializes in fermentation. He draws from his cultural heritage to teach, write, and share culinary knowledge through various platforms, including his popular Instagram @kenjcooks and his upcoming book "Ferment."
Kenji Morimoto•
September 10, 2025
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!
Ingredients (4)
Ingredients (4)
Instructions
You'll need two kirimochi per daifuku. You can use less but you may struggle with moulding the mochi around the fruit and anko. Cut each kirimochi into quarters and boil in water till soft, roughly 5-7 minutes.
On a flat clean surface, dust your working area with cornstarch and mould them into soft pliable balls and then into flat disks before adding anko (4 Tbsp) and a fig and then mould the mochi around the fig.
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