Tuesday, January 24, 2006

eat your beans!


When mothers tell their children to "eat their beans", I don't think they had this in mind...dessert today was an "ichigo daifuku". "Ichigo" means strawberry, "Daifuku" is a thin mochi (rice cake) filled with sweet bean paste. This daifuku version uses cannellini bean paste that is sweetened, called "shiro-an"--"shiro" means white and "an" means sweet bean paste. In Hawaii, a lot of "shiro-an" is made from lima beans. Anyway, the strawberry goes into the middle, then is wrapped in the sweet cannellini bean paste, then the whole thing is wrapped with a very thin mochi (rice cake)...still, I'm eating them, aren't I?

For dinner tonight, I was inspired by Michele's blog, Oswego Tea, to re-create her dish, Pasta Carbonara because One, it looked so good and Two, I just had to find crispy bacon (plus three, I think I have PMS...). Her recipe is no longer online. For some reason or other, most of the bacon here is like thin sliced ham and no matter how long you cook it, it doesn't get crispy.

So, this is the results(kind of dark photo, sorry!)...it tasted ooh-la-la!! Thanks for the idea, Michele!

p.s. Satoshi will be having this for breakfast tomorrow morning :)

11 comments:

eat stuff said...

that is sooo pretty!
I bet it was YUMMY :)

I wish you could get themlike that here :)

K and S said...

Hi Clare,

Thanks for stopping by.

I really like this treat because it isn't really sweet.

I'm glad Kiri is back!!

Kat & Satoshi

Darlaing said...

Thanks for stopping by Messy Cucina! I like your blog. My husband spent some time in Osaka and so I will be sure to send him your way. I love all the sweets you've posted about! I've never heard of them before!

Anonymous said...

Very interesting idea with the strawberry. Did you make this one? I am very curious about this!!!
Oh, btw Kat, I used to live in New Zealand, hence your confusion. And I am returting for a holiday there in yes yes, only one week ! Yeah!

K and S said...

Hi Darla,
Thanks for stopping by too! I really enjoy your blog, you are a very good writer!

Hi Bea,
Sorry, I didn't make this one. Although, I think if I put some effort into it, I probably could.
NZ!! isn't it summer or fall there now? A great weather change from Maine.
Have a safe trip and ENJOY!

Anonymous said...

Kat,

I would gladly eat my beans any day if this is what I had offered to me ... delicious!

K and S said...

Hi Ivonne,

I wonder if there are any commercial Japanese sweet makers where you are?? That way, you can eat your beans this way. :)

Kat & Satoshi

Tea said...

Ooooh, this looks so good! I lived in Japan as a kid and then again after university and ichigo daifuku is my favorite. I'm in San Francisco now and can buy daifuku at the Japantown here, but not the ichigo type. Thanks for bringing back the memories.

PS. I sometimes write about Japan/Japanese cooking on my blog: teaandcookies.blogspot.com

K and S said...

Hi Tea,

I enjoyed reading your blog. Am glad I was able to send a smile to you.

Take care.

Kat & Satoshi

Anonymous said...

they make a similar one at "two ladies kitchen" in hilo...although they didn't have any while we were in hilo over the holidays!!

K and S said...

Hi Grant,

Yes, "Two Ladies Kitchen" makes a similar one. They make several interesting kinds, like a chocolate peanut butter one.

Too bad you weren't able to get your hands on the strawberry one.

Hope you had a fun trip!

Kat & Satoshi