Sake Manju--Better Than Those Sold in Souvenir Shops!
- 100 grams Sake lees
- 3 tbsp Sake
- 120 grams Cake flour
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 100 grams Sugar (I use raw cane sugar)
- 500 grams Anko (I used koshi-an)
- To prepare the ingredients Microwave the sake lees for 20 seconds, then strain.
- Sift together the cake flour and baking powder.
- Make 25 g balls of anko.
- Strain the sake lees, and mix in the sake until smooth.
- Add the sugar, then mix until well blended.
- Add the rest of the dry ingredients, then mix until it's no longer floury.
- Dust a metal tray with flour (not listed), then place the dough on top, lightly roll into a ball, then separate it into 20 pieces.
- Next, wrap the dough around the balls of anko.
- The anko balls should look like this.
- When wrapping, lightly spread the dough on the palm of your hand, place the anko on top, then stretch the dough around while pulling it over any gaps.
- The dough is quite sticky, but it will become hard if you use too much flour for dusting.
- Place the prepared manju on parchment paper cut into 5 x 5 cm square sheets.
- Fill a pot (steamer) with water, add about 1 teaspoon sake (not listed), then bring to a boil.
- Spritz the manju with water, then steam over high heat.
- It should take 13-15 minutes.
- The manju should be spaced about 5 cm apart or else they will stick, as they did in this photo.
- The manju on the left has not yet been steamed, while the one on the right has been steamed through.
- They should rise about this much.
- The surface will shine if left to cool at room temperature.
- By the way, they taste great fresh from the steamer!
- Since steaming is troublesome, I tried microwaving them.
- I microwaved them with a cup filled with water for 2 minutes.
- They came out dry, hard, and did not rise.
- The moisture also was drawn out of the anko paste--in short, it was a complete failure!
lees, sake, flour, baking powder, sugar
Taken from cookpad.com/us/recipes/148057-sake-manju-better-than-those-sold-in-souvenir-shops (may not work)