This innocuous looking piece of dough is much more interesting than it looks. This, dear readers, is the not really famous but totally should be famous Japanese white bean paste dough. Also known as White Bean Paste Nerikiri Dough.
This versatile dough made of white bean paste and mochi becomes an edible dessert 'clay' with which you can make so many yummilicious as well as gorgeously shaped and textured sweet desserts. It's amazing, really, the wonderful shapes that can be made: flowers, leaves, pumpkins, animals, etc. The limit is your imagination and ingenuity.
For example here is the White Bean Paste Nerikiri Bunny that we made:
The white bean paste nerikiri dough is pretty simple in theory. It is a combination of white bean paste with a soft tender mochi called "gyuhi" in Japanese.
To make the soft mochi, start with glutinous rice flour. You can use regular glutinous rice flour 糯米粉 or shiratamako (see photo above) or mochiko, these last two are special glutinous rice flours made in Japan.
Water is added to the glutinous rice flour and whisked until the flour is completely dissolved.
Here are the two ingredients for nerikiri dough, ready to be combined. At the bottom is the white bean paste and on top is the soft mochi.
IMPORTANT: the white bean paste must be dry as possible before combining with the mochi. Once combined there is no going back!
The first couple of times I tried making this dough I made the mistake of not drying the white bean paste enough before combining. I finally realized the importance of this step and my dough improved. The white bean paste should not stick to your finger at all.
As the mochi is sticky, a large piece of cloth is traditionally used to knead nerikiri dough. With the paste and mochi in the middle of the cloth, fold the sides of the cloth over the dough to press and knead the dough.
I didn't have a piece of cloth handy so I used my large silicon mat as a substitute. Keep folding and kneading until the mochi blends smoothly with the paste.
Next the dough is separated into pieces and laid out to rest for a minute. I think that this is supposed to allow any moisture in the dough to evaporate more quickly. After a minute press together the pieces and knead a bit more.
What to look for in the final result? The dough should be very smooth, pliable and should not stick to your hands at all. You should be able to draw a clean line thru the dough without any clumping. (See the line in the dough in the photo below.)
Once your dough can pass this test it is ready to be used. Edible nerikiri clay! Go on, get crazy creative and make exquisitely beautiful things that you can eat!
Psst...check out our Chrysanthemum White Bean Paste Nerikiri Cake! 🌸
White Bean Paste Dough | Nerikiri Dough
(makes 16oz/450g) Prep time: 1 min Cook time: 2 mins Knead time: 5 mins
Ingredients:
- 15.5 oz white bean paste, 440g (click link for our recipe)
Soft mochi:
- 3 1/2 tbsp glutinous rice flour, 35g
- 3 tbsp water, 45g
Directions:
Make the white bean paste: Make bean paste according to our recipe here. You'll need to double the recipe.
Make the soft mochi gyuhi: Mix glutinous rice flour and water, whisking until completely combined. In a small pot heat over low heat, stirring and scraping constantly for 1-2 mins or until very sticky and clumps to the scraper. Let cool.
Combine and Knead: Place the white bean paste in the middle of a large piece of cloth or a large silicon mat. Add the mochi on top. Fold over the sides of the cloth or mat and use to knead the mochi into the paste. When mochi is completely incorporated, pull the dough into approx 15 pieces and lay out of the cloth/mat and let rest one minute.
After a minute again use the sides of the cloth/mat to knead the dough about 20 times or until the dough is smooth and not sticking to the finger. Test readiness by drawing a line thru the dough. If you can make a line with no clumping the dough is ready is be used for making nerikiri sweets.
Storage: If not using immediately wrap tightly in cling film and keep in fridge for up to 3 days. To store longer, keep well wrapped dough in the freezer until needed.
Bean-liciousness at The Hong Kong Cookery:
0 comments:
Post a Comment