Ingredients
(makes 15)
Rice flour : 150g
Glutinous rice flour : 30g
Sugar : 5g
Boiling water : 160ml
Sweet azuki bean paste : 適宜 to serve
For the mid-autumn harvest moon festival on September 27, people in most parts of Japan make offerings of spherical ‘tsukimi dango’ dumplings, but in the Chubu region of Shizuoka Prefecture the traditional offering is ‘heso-mochi’, which have an indentation in the middle (‘heso’ means ‘bellybutton’). Their origins are unclear, though some say they were first made for the young Tokugawa Ieyasu by his servants when he was a hostage of Lord Imagawa in Sunpu Castle. Chinese mooncakes are readily available, it’s true, but why not try some handmade heso-mochi for this year’s moon viewing?
Preparation
Put rice flour, glutinous rice flour, and sugar in a plastic bag and shake vigorously.
Method
- Put rice flour, glutinous rice flour, and sugar in a bowl. Add boiling water all at once and mix rapidly with chopsticks (photo 1). Knead the dough until smooth.
- Little by little, add 20ml cool water (not listed in ingredients) to make a softer dough, kneading all the while (photo 2).
- Put some water on to heat beneath a steamer. When stem emerges, line the steamer with baking paper and put dough inside in bite-size pieces. Steam for 20 minutes (photo 3).
- Knead well again on several more layers of baking paper.
- Roll the dough into a long cylinder, then cut into 15 pieces. Form each of these into a ball and then press down in the middle to form indentations (photo 4).
- Steam again for 7 minutes (photo 5).
- Eat with some sweet bean paste on top.
