Zunda Mochi is a conventional Japanese confectionery of glutinous rice desserts topped with candy mashed edamame paste. The nice and cozy, chewy dessert is a well-liked specialty of the Miyagi Prefecture in Japan, the place it’s served at necessary occasions in addition to afternoon tea.
Japan’s prefectures and areas strongly determine with their regionally farmed agriculture and distinctive culinary traditions. The specialty meals of every area are almost legendary! One such native delicacy of Miyagi Prefecture is zunda, a candy paste produced from edamame that’s famously grown within the Tohoku area of northeastern Japan.
Locals in cities like Sendai add this candy bean paste with a vivid inexperienced shade to every kind of snacks and desserts. You may take pleasure in a zunda shake, zunda ice cream, zunda parfait, zunda daifuku, and zunda roll desserts! Certainly one of their hottest native dishes is Zunda Mochi (ずんだ餅), the standard dessert recipe that I’m sharing at this time.
Now, you could be skeptical about utilizing edamame in a candy snack like this. However belief me, this dish will win you over at first chunk! I’ll present you learn how to make this simple recipe so you’ll be able to attempt it for your self at dwelling.
Desk of Contents
What’s Zunda Mochi?
Zunda mochi (ずんだ餅) is a glutinous rice cake topped with mashed and sweetened edamame paste. Sugar and a pinch of salt give the zunda a candy style, which can even remind you a little bit of anko, or Japanese candy crimson bean paste.
This conventional dish dates again to not less than the fifteenth century. Zunda mochi was stated to be a favourite dessert of the well-known Sendai ruler, Date Masamune (1567–1636), who legend says crushed edamame with the deal with of his sword. There are numerous theories in regards to the origin of its identify; one principle means that “zunda” derives from the phrase zuda (豆打), which suggests “bean mashing.
At the moment in Miyagi Prefecture, it’s customary to eat this conventional specialty throughout necessary occasions reminiscent of New 12 months’s Day, weddings, memorial companies, and funerals. Zunda mochi can be a well-liked memento to carry dwelling from a go to to the area.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This dish is straightforward, fast, and so yummy!
- Simple to make — It makes use of simply 4 elements.
- Fast — Prepared in simply half an hour.
- Excessive in fiber and protein — Edamame is excessive in fiber, protein, and different vitamins. It’s one of many conventional superfoods of Japan!
- Enjoyable to make with children — Invite your younger cooks to assist shell and pound the edamame. In any case, making zunda mochi was a household affair again within the day, with kids serving to to extract the younger soybeans from the pods.
Components for Zunda Mochi
With simply 4 freezer and pantry elements, you may make this scrumptious Japanese confectionery anytime the temper strikes.
- Edamame (inexperienced, immature soybeans) — use frozen pods for the perfect freshness and style
- Sugar and a bit of salt
- Mochi (glutinous rice desserts) — dried and pre-cut into rectangles (known as kirimochi) or freshly made mochi; discover them at a Japanese market or on Amazon.
How one can Make Zunda Mochi
- Boil the frozen edamame pods in a pot of unsalted water over medium warmth.
- Drain when mushy (softer than the way you’d eat common edamame as a snack).
- Shell the edamame pods and peel the skinny outer skins of the beans.
- Tough chop the beans with a knife, then pound and crush them with a mortar and pestle, leaving some unmashed for a barely chunky texture. (I desire the feel of hand-mashing over utilizing a meals processor.)
- Add sugar and a pinch of salt to the bowl, then combine to mix nicely. Add water to skinny, if wanted.
- Boil the mochi and drain.
- Add the zunda onto the mushy mochi and serve sizzling or heat.
Recipe Ideas and Strategies
- Purchase frozen edamame of their pods. These pods are flash frozen, so that they’ve retained their taste and texture. The outer shell additionally helps shield the younger soybeans inside whenever you boil them. I like to make use of frozen pods for the comfort, as I typically have them within the freezer they usually don’t want superior prep earlier than cooking. When you may use recent pods when you have them, they do take longer to prepare and cook.
- Prepare dinner the mochi simply earlier than serving. Mochi will get exhausting and dry when it’s chilly, so you have to boil it simply previous to serving. Cooking them provides the rice desserts a mushy, stretchy, and chewy texture. Remember to serve it whereas sizzling or heat.
- Use dried and pre-cut mochi. For max comfort, I like to make use of kirimochi for this dish. It’s already cooked and dried, then pre-cut and individually wrapped. All you need to do is boil it for 4–5 minutes and it’s able to eat. As a result of kirimochi is shelf steady and retains for a lot of months, it’s an inexpensive and fashionable pantry meals. It’s the subsequent smartest thing to fresh!
- Optionally, you may use shiratama dango as an alternative of kirimochi as a base on your zunda mochi. See the my blog post and recipe to discover ways to make these chewy and gooey mochi balls.
How one can Retailer
You can also make zunda paste forward of time and/or maintain the leftovers. Nonetheless, you will have to boil the mochi proper earlier than serving as rice cake will get exhausting within the fridge.
- To Refrigerate: You may maintain the zunda paste in an hermetic container for as much as 3–4 days within the fridge.
- To Freeze: Switch the zunda paste to a resealable freezer bag or freezer-safe container. Retailer within the freezer for as much as 3 months. Defrost within the fridge in a single day earlier than utilizing.
What to Serve with Zunda Mochi
This Japanese confectionery pairs nicely with any number of Japanese Green Tea like sencha, hojicha, genmaicha, and gyokuro.
Want to study extra about Japanese cooking? Join our free newsletter to obtain cooking ideas & recipe updates! And keep in contact with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Zunda Mochi (Candy Edamame Mochi)
Zunda Mochi is a Japanese confectionery of glutinous rice desserts topped with a candy paste of mashed edamame (younger soybean). This chewy, stretchy dessert is a well-liked specialty of Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture the place it‘s served at afternoon tea and celebrations alike.
Components
Forestall your display from going darkish
