Japanese Wagashi - Ichigo Daifuku

Homemade Ichigo Daifuku

Daifuku is another type of Japanese sweet which is mochi stuffed with sweet red bean paste (anko) or white bean paste (shiroan). Daifuku (大福餅 or Daifukumochi) means good luck, and can be given at special occasions. Ichigo means strawberry. Ichigo daifuku is usually eaten during spring but as there are a few strawberry-lovers at home, it shall be made in winter too. (*Smiles*)

Daifuku bought at department stores are usually too sweet and laden with colouring and preservatives. I decided to make them from scratch so that I can enjoy this confection without the excessive sugar content.

Before making the daifuku, I found a recipe from the website Apple Pie, Patis and Pate to make the red bean paste. I chose the chunky version for a fuller taste and put less sugar than recommended.

Home-made red bean paste (from azuki beans)

Next, I used the recipe from Obachan's Kitchen & Balcony Garden to make Ichigo Daifuku. I steamed the dough mixture for 10 minutes instead of using the microwave.

Strawberries covered with anko

Now comes the tricky part. Handling the cooked dough requires some skill. Katakuriko (corn starch) is dusted on the dough to keep them from sticky on the hands. Flatten the dough, place the tip of the strawberry in the centre, cover the rest of the strawberry with the dough, seal the edges and shape into a ball.

And finally,

Ichigo daifuku - my own unique style!! They turned out to be more cone-shaped than round.
Hee hee! I dusted the excess katakuriko from the daifuku and it was done.

Close up

Verdict: Room for improvement on the aesthetics, as can be seen from the pictures. Uneven red bean paste distribution and the use of a table knife to cut the ichigo daifuku. But everyone liked it! The sourness of the strawberry and the sweetness of the red bean paste makes it a delightful and refreshing combination.

Japanese Wagashi - Kushi Dango

I made Kushi Dango (skewered rice dumpling) for the kid's afternoon snack today. Dango is one of the many types of Japanese sweets, similar to Singapore's version of "muah chee". This is usually served with green tea.

There are many varieties of dango besides the 3 types that I made. Others are served with Anko (sweetened red bean paste), Bocchan Dango (tri-coloured), Chadango (green tea flavoured), etc. Stalls at tourist spots sell toasted dango with sweet sauce.

Justin loves it. A very easy recipe with nutritional tofu in it. (Note: Potential choking hazard for younger children as this is made from glutinous rice flour. )


Ingredients

100g of glutinous rice flour (shiratamako or mochiko)
100g of silken tofu

Kinako (toasted soy flour)
Black Sesame seed
Sugar
Soya Sauce
Mirin


Step 1
Mix the glutinous rice flour and tofu in a bowl. Add a little water and knead the dough till it is soft but firm. (If dough is too soft, add flour. If dough is too crumbly, add more water)

Step 2
Divide the dough into 3 big pieces, then each piece into 3 medium pieces, and further divide each medium pieces into 3 smaller pieces. (Confusing?). You will get a total of 27 pieces from the whole process. Shape the pieces into a ball.

Step 3
Put the dumplings into boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove dumplings when they float on the water and put them in a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain well.

Step 4
Skewer 3 dumplings into a bamboo stick. Coat with the flavour of your choice.

Kinako Dango

(a) Mix 2 tbsp of Kinako to 1 tbspn of sugar. Coat the tofu dango.

Goma Dango

(b) Add 2 tbsp of freshly ground sesame seed to 1 tbsp of sugar. Coat the tofu dango.

Mitarashi Dango

(c) Put 1 tbsp of soya sauce, 1 tbsp of mirin and 1 tbsp of sugar into a pot and bring to boil. Adjust the heat to prevent the syrup from burning. Coat the tofu dango with the sweet soya sauce.

Verdict: Justin loved the dango with sweet sauce, Jonathan liked the one with Kinako while Papa like the sesame flavoured dango. I liked the sesame flavoured one because it was very fragrant. (Sesame seeds are an excellent dietary source of calcium, manganese, copper, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, vitamin E, protein and fibre)

Venetian Glass Museum & Little Prince Museum

Twas a cold but sunny day when we visited Hakone Glass Forest and The Museum of the Little Prince at Hakone. We started our journey at 9:00am and arrived at our first destination at 11am.

Hakone Glass Forest

Carnevale Venezia

The museum is currently having a carnival between 28th December 2009 to 31 March 2010, where visitors can dress up in Venetian costume and Italian masquerade masks. Some of the costumes are simple but others are really elegant and elaborate. Kids costumes are also available. However, we didn't change because Jonathan seemed a little wary when he saw people wearing Renaissance costumes and feathered masks around him.

Upon entering, we were greeted by an opened landscaped area with a huge curtain of crystals hanging over a bridge (bottom left of the picture above). When the sun came out behind the clouds, the crystals shone brightly giving out colours of the rainbow. There were also crystal filled trees around the garden. A very pretty sight indeed.

Strolling garden with a canal running through


"Venetian"

The glass museum displays many pieces of Venetian glassware from the 15th Century to the 18th Century that are beautifully and intricately made. There is also the Venetian Glass Modern Museum which exhibits modern Venetian glass works in the 19th Century.

After the glass museum, I proceeded to the Museum shop while the kids and papa went to explore the garden. The shop was definitely not a place for them. They would have run like a bull in the china shop, knocking over crystals and glasses at some point in time. I enjoyed looking at the accessories and glass products in the shop. Glassware, jewellery, paintings, masks, glass thermometers just to name a few.

At the garden

Cafe Terrazza

At 12:30pm, our stomachs began to rumble so we went to Cafe Terrazza for lunch. We had pasta while enjoying live Canzoni (Italian ballads) performance by an Italian duo. Beautiful music, nice ambience with the sun streaming through the window. Very relaxing. It's nice to have a cup of coffee and the croissants are fabulous with a choice of strawberry, apricot, cream filling or just plain.

Live performance

Just outside the cafe was this beautiful tree adorned with crystals. The sun shone quite strongly and the crystals began to sparkle. I managed to get a shot before it was hidden by the clouds again.

Crystal tree sparkling in the sun

The Museum of the Little Prince

The museum was set up in memory of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of the famous novel The Little Prince. Letters and photos related to Saint-Exupéry are on display. I haven't read the book yet but after visiting the museum, I will definitely add this to the kids' reading list.

Entrance to Little Prince Museum

Theatre du Petit Prince

Jon with the Little Prince

A street of Provence

Librairie Frederic

The Geographer

Park near Saint-Exupéry Church

Restaurant Le Petit Prince

Asteroid B-612

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On the way back home, we stopped by a lookout point to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji from Hakone. Unfortunately, the clouds were covering Mount Fuji and we could not get a clear view of Japan's highest mountain.

Half-hidden Mount Fuji

Lookout point

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone

Merry Christmas ....

and a Happy New Year!

From home

Year End Christmas and 70s Disco Party

Justin had a Christmas cum 70s disco party at school today. Everyone contributed food for the party. Thereafter they went to the hall for their disco moves. The kids were dressed up in the 70s - bright coloured clothes with lots of accessories, bell bottoms, funky disco shirts, mini-dresses, headbands, afro wigs, etc. They danced to the music of the 70s including "Saturday Night Fever" by the Bee Gees.

Justin told me he had a wonderful day at school before he went to bed. Below the class photo taken by one of the moms.

Can you spot Justin?
[Click image to enlarge ]

Qurantined at home - Influenza A (H1N1)

Justin was diagnosed with influenza A on Monday after having fever during the weekend. The week before, Papa and Jonathan were down with a cold. Both tested negative for influenza virus. Symptoms for Justin were relatively mild, fever around 38 degrees for the first day to 39 degrees. He had a sore throat and cough. The doctor prescribed him tamiflu and fever medication.

According to school policy, students who had influenza A had to stay at home for 5 days. Jonathan had to be at home for 5 days as well, only to return to school if no fever arises during the quarantine.

Justin is feeling better now. His fever has subsided and he is very active at home. He had a great time blasting his Christmas carols the whole day, singing along and pretending to be a deejay. He read his books and did some drawings. We also played some alphabet games with Jonathan.

I had a chance to engage in some baking therapy today. With some ripe bananas at home, I decided to try out Banana Bread from allrecipes.com.

Fresh from oven

Packed into a container

I tweaked the recipe by adding walnuts and raisins with less sugar. Adding some spices like cinnamon and nutmeg enhances the flavour of the banana bread. Alternatively, put the batter in muffin trays and voilà!, you get lovely muffins too!

This settles breakfast for tomorrow!