Sakura Mochi from Demon Slayer
Mitsuri got her iconic hair color from eating 170 of these for months straight. They are that delicious :9
Narrated Tutorial
No Yapping Tutorial
Sakura Mochi
From Demon Slayer.Mitsuri's favorite dessert that manifested her pink and green hair. Maybe you'll get it too if you eat enough of them.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker
- Small pot
- 2 Small Plates or Trays (for rice ball and red bean filling)
- Rice Paddle or Wooden Stick (to pound the mochi with)
- Cling Wrap
Ingredients
Sakura Mochi Rice
- 1 rice cooker cup Mochigome or any glutinous rice
- 1 drop Red Food Coloring (could try using beet root powder to color naturally)
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- Water
- 8 Perilla Leaves (or more traditionally, pickled sakura leaves)
Red Bean Filling
- 1/2 cup Red Beans
- 1/4 cup Sugar (adjust to taste)
- 1/8 tsp Salt (adjust to taste)
- Water
Sugar Water
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 5 tbsp Water
Instructions
Sugar Water
- Combine 1 tbsp of sugar and 5 tbsp of water and mix until the sugar is fully dissolved. We will use this later to prevent ingredients from sticking to our hands as we work with them and also sweeten them slightly.
Making the Red Bean Filling
- Soak the red beans in water overnight or for at least 6 hours. Make sure all the red beans are fully submerged in water. Rinse and drain the beans with a sieve,
- In a small pot, add the red beans and enough water to cover them and bring them to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat, strain the beans and rinse. This process cleans the beans and mellows out their flavor.
- Return the beans to the pot and add water to about 2 inches above the beans.
- Heat on medium high and simmer for 30min to 1hr 30mins, adding water as needed to prevent the beans from burning. If your pot is small, don't add too much water in case it might overflow in the boiling process.
- To check doneness, take a bean out with a wooden spoon and let it cool. Smush it between your fingers. It should feel easy, soft and smooth. Otherwise, let the beans cook for longer.
- When done, drain the beans into a sieve and turn off the heat.
- Return the beans to the pot. Add sugar and salt a bit at a time to adjust to your taste. For more textured bean paste, mix well and smush the red beans with the back of a wodden spoon until everything is combined. For really smooth bean paste, push the beans through a fine mesh sieve or use a food processor.
- Return the small pot of beans tot he stove and mix on low heat until the paste thickens enough for shaping. Do not leave your bean paste unattended or else you might burn it. Take the pot off the heat if you feel like it's getting close to burning.
- Turn off the heat when you are done. Remove the bean paste from the stove and let cool.
- When the bean paste has cooled, dip your hands into the sugar water we prepared earlier and coat your hands with it.
- Pick up 2 tsp to 2 1/2 tsp of red bean paste and roll into a ball. Set aside on a tray and repeat for 8 balls, making sure to dip your hands in the sugar water in between each.
- The red bean balls and paste can be refridgerated for later use up to 4 days.
Prepping the Leaves (Skip if not using leaves)
- If using pickled sakura leaves, desalt them by soaking in some for 20 minutes.
- For all other leaves (perilla in this case), cut off the extra stem sticking out for aesthetics. Non-sakura leaves are not critical for the recipe but they are a nice way to keep the mochi from sticking to each other when stored and also look pretty.
Making the Mochi Rice
- Add the mochigome to a rice cooker pot. Wash the rice well, rubbing the grains with your hands and rinsing until the water is almost clear.
- Prepare a red dye water by combining 2 tsp water and 1 drop of red food coloring. We want to avoid adding the food coloring directly into the rice as it might make the rice more red instead of pink and you won't be able to undo the color change easily.
- To the rice cooker pot, add room temperature water to the specification of your rice cooker for one cup of white rice.
- Add 1 tbsp of sugar to the rice and mix well.
- Add the red dye water, a little bit at a time until the color of the rice water is the shade of pink you want your mochi to be.
- If you have time, let your rice soak for 1 hour before cooking. This helps it cook more evenly in the rice cooker.
- Cook in a rice cooker on your regular white rice setting. When the rice is done, transfer the rice inner pot to your working surface. Be careful, it will be hot.
- Dip a wooden pestle or rice paddle in the sugar water and pound the mochigome until it is sticky for a minute or so. Do not overdo it or the rice will lose it's individual grain shapes and become mushy.
- Divide the rice into 8 equal parts using your rice paddle or a chopstick.
- Dip your hands in the sugar water, pick up one of the rice portions and roll it into an oval ball. Doesn't need to be perfect. Set aside on a tray and repeat for the rest, making sure to dip your hands in the sugar water in between each.
Assembling the Sakura Mochi
- Prepare a sheet of cling wrap and place it on your working surface or cutting board.
- Sprinkle on a little bit of the sugar water onto the cling wrap and place one rice ball in the center. Brush some sugar water onto the top of the rice ball with your hand.
- Fold the plastic over the ball and press it down with your palm, forming a flat oval. make sure the center is thicker than edges. The red bean filling is a deep color and this helps it not show through the rice when wrapped.
- Peel the cling wrap off gently. Use a spoon or finger wet with sugar water if needed to help pry the cling wrap away.
- Place a red bean ball in the bottom half of the rice oval and wrap the other half of the rice along with the cling wrap over it.
- Seal the edges by pressing them together through the cling wrap. Twist the cling wrap close to form a oval shape mochi.
- Place your leaf with the veiny back of the leaf facing down on your working surface.
- Unwrap and palce your mochi ball on the bottom half of the leaf. close to where the stem ends and wrap the leaf over the mochi.
- Repeat for 8 mochis and you are done!
To Serve
- Enjoy this right away as it is the best the same day it is made. You can store the sakura mochi in an air tight container at room temperature for up to a day. I put my container in my dutch oven or a small pot with a lid to prevent ants from coming for the sakura mochis.
- After that, you can refridgerate for another 3 days but the rice will harden in the fridge. To store for even longer, freeze for up to a month.
- Defrost the mochi by leaving it out to thaw at room temperature and then microwave slightly to make soft.