Tag: flour

Daifuku (Red Bean Mochi) Recipe

written 12/8/24, updated 12/8/24

What

Japanese dessert. It’s mochi (sweet glutinous rice flour), a chewy rice cake, wrapped around a filling, usually anko (sweet red bean paste). Can be filled with other ingredients like mung bean, fresh cut fruit, ice cream, or custard, and colored with powders (such as matcha powder), fresh fruit puree, or food coloring.

This recipe is made in the microwave for ease, but can also be steamed

*See Notes for more details

Ingredients

1 Cup Shiratamako or Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour (*See Notes)

¼ – ½ Cup Sugar (more or less as desired)

1 Cup Water

1 Cup Anko (sweet red bean paste, bought or made)

Katakuriko (potato starch or cornstarch as needed for dusting)

Supplies

Heat-proof bowl

Silicone Spatula

Silicone Whisk

Plastic Wrap/Microwave Cover

Parchment Paper

Baking Sheet/Tray

Time and Serving

Time: 5 minutes combine + 2 minutes microwave + 20 minutes shaping = 30 minutes

Serving: 8 pieces

Directions

  • Prepare your Anko filling
  • On a tray or baking sheet, do the same thing and set aside (this is where you’ll put the formed daifuku)
  • Whisk together Flour (1 Cup) and Sugar (¼ – ½ Cup, to your desire)
  • Add the Water (1 Cup) and combine with the silicone spatula until it forms a smooth batter
  • Cover with either plastic wrap or microwave lid
  • Microwave for about 1.5 minutes
  • Remove and stir well
  • Return to microwave for another 1.5 minutes
  • It should have formed a shiny, smooth dough, a somewhat hard lump, different from the batter from before
  • If not, then return for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between
  • Dust your parchment paper workspace with either potato starch or cornstarch
  • Scrape the dough out onto your workspace (Be careful, it’s going to be HOT)
  • Sprinkle starch as needed to make it less sticky
  • Divide the hot dough into equal portions
  • Roll them into flat disks
  • Put your Anko filling into the middle and pinch the ends to close them
  • Place it seam side down on your pre-dusted tray
  • Continue to make the rest
  • This is best enjoyed right away, or cover and refrigerate up to 2 days

Notes

Clean-Up Tips

  • Soak your bowls and implements in water to help loosen it up
  • Try not to dump the wet flour down the drain if you don’t want to deal with a clog
  • If it’s being stubborn even after soaking, use the silicone spatula to scrape the wet dough into the trashcan

Katakuriko = potato starch

Mochi vs Dango

  • Dango: term for ball-shaped foods
  • While these days the lines have blurred between the two desserts’ ingredients, traditionally, the difference is that Mochi was made from steamed glutinous RICE (grain) and pounded in a pestle, while Dango was made from non-glutinous rice FLOUR, mixed with water, kneaded, then steamed or boiled.
  • Dango is made like boba, where the little balls are boiled

When made the same way (Flour, sugar, and boil little balls) tapioca starch (cassava) will make boba, while rice flour will make dango.

Mochiko vs Shiratamako

  • Both flours are similar to each other but differ in processing
  • Both can be used in other dishes like bakery goods and as thickening agents in savory dishes
Mochiko
  • Ground when rice is dry
  • Less working time until hardening
  • Sticky, chewy texture
  • Stronger flavor
  • Finely ground flour
Shiratamako
  • Ground when rice is wet, then dried
  • Stretchier, even when cool
  • Smoother texture, more delicate
  • Good for refined desserts
  • Coarse, granular textured flour

Pizza: Dough + Baking

written 10/12/23, updated 10/15/23

What

Pizza dough recipe

Ingredients

*See notes for unit conversions and other tips

3½ cups All-Purpose Flour (plus for kneading)

1 packet Active Dry Yeast (2¼ tsp)

1⅓ cups Warm Water (105 -115F/38-46C)

1 tsp Sugar

Honey (optional)

2 tsp Salt

2 Tbsp olive oil

Pinch of Cornmeal (optional)

Toppings of your choice

Supplies: Stand Mixer, Working Surface, Plastic Wrap/Kitchen Towel, Large Mixing Bowl, Wooden Spoon, Measuring Supplies, Somewhere Warm, Oven

Time

5-10 minutes yeast activation

7-10 minutes in Stand Mixer

~1½ hours for dough to rise

15 minutes for another dough rise after separation or punch down

10-15 minutes to shape the pizza + 5 minutes for more resting

10-15 minutes to let olive oil sit

~10-20 minutes to bake

Total: 2-3 hours

Steps

Yeast-leavened dough smells, looks, and feels sooo gooood

Making the Dough

  • In stand mixer bowl or other bowl, dissolve sugar (1Tbsp), honey (optional) in warm water (1⅓ cups @ 105-115F)
  • Sprinkle the dry active yeast (2¼ tsp or 1 packet), trying to not let it clump (you want them to dissolve, and clumping won’t allow that)
  • Cover with plastic wrap or towel
  • After 5 minutes, if not all the yeast has dissolved, stir it a bit, and wait a little again for them to foam up (they’re alive!!)
  • Then add flour (3½ cups), salt (2 tsp), and olive oil (2 Tbsp)
  • Using the mixing paddle attachment, mix the ingredients until they combine
  • Swap out for the dough hook attachment (sticky! messy!), and now set it on low-medium for about 7-10 minutes
  • Test the dough around the 7-minute mark. It should be a little sticky/tacky and smooth-looking. If it’s too wet, sprinkle on some more flour and keep going. It’ll be ready when you can poke it with your finger and it bounces back
  • Lightly grease a large bowl
  • Form the dough into a rough ball and place it in the bowl
  • Cover tightly with plastic wrap or towel and place it in a warm place for about 1.5 hours until it doubles in size (see notes for tips)
  • Remove the wrap/cover
  • With lightly floured hands split the dough into however many pizzas you’re making (or just 1 big pizza is cool)
  • Roll them into balls, cover, and let it/them rise again for about 15 minutes to 2 hours

Pizza Time

  • Preheat your oven and stone/pan to 450F (highest mine can go)
  • Start prepping the toppings
  • Take your dough ball and using your fingers, start stretching the dough from the center, outwards. Get the thickness as thin or thick as you’d like (if it starts to resist, let it rest a little before continuing to the size you want)
  • Brush on olive oil and let it sit for 10ish minutes to soak in
  • Work on other dough balls in the meantime
  • Optional: Sprinkle cornmeal on bottom of working surface, pizza pan, and/or pizza peel (helps with transfer and prevention of sticking, plus it adds some texture to the crust if you like that)
  • Put those toppings on!
  • Get it into the oven (watch out, the pan will be HOT)
  • Bake for 10-20 minutes
  • It’ll be done when the crust is golden brown, and the toppings are melted

ENJOY!

This was smoked brisket and chicken with fresh mozzarella and homemade fresh tomato sauce

Notes

  • Try not to pile too much stuff on the pizza or it won’t cook evenly
  • You can do stuffed crust pizza easily with some mozzarella tucked under the crust edge!
  • Don’t overwork the dough unless you want it denser. Be gentle!
  • Bread flour will give the pizza some chewiness. You can substitute it 1:1
  • Pizza dough needs 4 basics: Flour, Water, Yeast, and Salt. Salt and olive oil are optional though, they help with browning, slightly taste, and texture, especially since home ovens can only get to around 450F (professional pizza ovens cook at 600 – 850F)
  • Active Dry Yeast needs to rise at least twice, but Rapid Rise Yeast only needs to rise once
  • 12/25/23: used bread flour and accidentally used 2 Tbsp salt. Incredibly salty

Generally, Neapolitan pizza is about 60-65% moisture (depends on the style. Detroit it 70-80% moisture). Here is some math, if you want to use a custom amount of flour for your pizza

Conversion

1g = 1.17ml

1ml = 0.00423 cups

1 cup flour = 125.16 grams (HERE)

Example

3.5 cup = 438.04 grams

438.04 grams ✖ 0.65 (65%) = 284.73 grams

284.73 grams ✖ 1.17ml = 333.13 ml

333.13ml ✖ 0.00423 cups = 1.41cups

Proofing Dough

65% moisture: 3.5 cups flour @ 1.41 cups water

60% moisture: 3.5 cups flour @ 1.30 cups water

If your house is cold and can’t find a warm place, you can try:

Cup of boiled water – Boil some water and pour it into a mug. Put your dough and the mug in a hard cooler or a toaster oven (I tried the microwave, not recommended). This should give it the right environment to rise. May need to top off if it’s too cold. I used this with success when trying to make French bread

Oven – You can heat the oven up to 150F or so for about 30 minutes, and then place the dough in the oven with the door propped with a wooden spoon. After about 30 minutes, close it to keep the heat in. I used this technique though it was much hotter because I’d just finished baking potatoes at 350F for an hour. I let it air out a bit, tested the temperature with a thermometer to make sure it was aroudn 200F (I figured if it’s too hot, it’ll bake the dough), then propped the toaster oven door open with a spoon. Dough rose amazingly