Ube Daifuku Mochi (Ube Mochi with Ube Jam Filling)
Daifuku mochi (a Japanese filled mochi dessert) gets an ube twist! Ube flavored mochi dough surrounds ube halaya jam in this easy purple confection.
Servings: 8 daifuku
Ingredients
- 100 g shiratamako can sub mochiko
- 25 g granulated sugar about 2 tbsp
- 130 mL water
- 1/8 tsp ube extract
- 240 g ube halaya jam store bought or homemade
- katakuriko (potato starch) for dusting
Instructions
- Scoop ube halaya jam into eight balls about 2 tbsp or 30g each. Refrigerate while preparing the mochi dough.
- In a microwave safe bowl lined with a wet dishcloth (see note), mix shiratamako, sugar, water, and ube extract. Cover and microwave for 2 minutes, or until mochi dough is cooked through.
- While still hot, turn out mochi onto a surface dusted with katakuriko. Divide into eight equal parts. Roll or pat each part into a flat circle, roughly 3-4" in diameter.
- Take one circle, keeping the rest of the mochi covered with a damp towel to keep it from drying out. Place an ube halaya jam ball in the center, and wrap the mochi around it, pinching the edges to seal into a ball. Roll daifuku in more katakuriko to keep it from sticking.
- Repeat with the other seven mochi circles and ube jam balls and serve immediately. Daifuku mochi need to be eaten the day they are made as they dry out quickly.
Notes
- 100g shiratamako is about 3/4 cup, but I highly recommend using a kitchen scale
- 240g of ube halaya is about 1 cup or eight balls of jam of two tbsp each
- You can substitute mochiko for shiratamako, but your dough may not be as pliable or stretchy
- Homemade ube halaya jam is recommended, as I found store bought to be too sweet for my tastes. However, store bought works just fine if you can't find fresh ube to use at home.
- You can substitute cornstarch for the katakuriko (potato starch), but I find the taste and texture of potato starch to be much better.
- When making mochi in the microwave, I line my bowl with a wet dishcloth (not the fluffy kind, the smooth kind). It is very easy to remove cooked mochi from a wet cloth, and you can use the cloth to cover the mochi later so it doesn't dry out. You can definitely cook it in a dish without the cloth, but expect to have lots of sticky residue.