Ingredients
(makes 8)
Gobo compote
Frozen sasagaki gobo(thinly-shaved burdock root) : 50g
Sugar : 100g
Water : 80ml
White bean paste
Canned cannellini beans : 100g (beans only)
Sugar : 100g
White miso paste : 1 teaspoon
Food colouring : 1-2 drops
Gyuhi mochi
Glutinous rice flour : 100g
Sugar : 100g
Water : 180ml
Happy new year!
This year, I’m going to focus on regional sweets of Japan. First is ‘Hanabira-mochi’, invented by the traditional confectioners of Kyoto. It was adapted from the ‘Hishi-hanabira’, eaten during New Year celebrations in the shrines and Imperial court of the Heian period. From the Meiji period, this sweet became used in Urasenke tea ceremonies. It is now a familiar sweet for celebrating the new year. The original recipe uses long and thin sweet simmered gobo, but in this recipe I’ve used frozen sasagaki gobo (which is more readily available) as well as white miso. Why not make hanabira-mochi for your New Year’s celebration?
Method
Gobo compote
- Blanch the frozen sasagaki gobo in boiling water, then drain.
- In a pot, warm sugar and water until dissolved. Add blanched gobo, bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and set aside overnight.
White bean paste
- Drain canned beans and rinse under running water.
- Remove the rest of the salt by boiling beans for 2-3 minutes in plenty of clean water. Repeat this twice more, then drain (photo 1).
- Put beans and sugar in a heat-resistant container and mix. Microwave for 3 minutes, stir, then microwave a further 3 minutes. When the bean paste is hard enough to form peaks when dropped from a spatula, mix in the miso and food colouring and microwave for 1 minute more. Put in a container and cover the surface with plastic wrap.
Gyuhi mochi dough
- Pour sugar and boiling water into a heat-resistant container, and whisk until sugar dissolves.
- Add the glutinous rice flour and mix until dissolved.
- Cover with plastic wrap, then microwave for 2 minutes until the dough is transparent.Mix with a spatula, then spread out on a surface dusted with potato flour. Sprinkle a little more potato flour on top, then roll out the dough to a thickness of 3mm. Cut into circles using an 8cm cookie cutter (photos 2, 3).
Assembly
- Soak up any excess moisture from the sweet simmered gobo with paper towel, then chop gobo finely. Add 40g of the white bean paste and mix. Get a 5g ball of each of the white bean paste and gobo bean paste, and press the two together into an oval shape. Make lots of these (photos 4, 5).
- Fold a gyuhi mochi circle in half around each oval (photo 6).
