Strawberry flavor Sakura Dumplings 苺桜だんご

日本語のレシピは　ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の　Hachidory から　ご覧下さい。

 

 

The rich pink color peach flowers are now in full bloom.

So are the white Kobushi and Nirabana.

So are the yellow Rengyo and Nanohana.

So are the purple Shokkasai Kakidoshi……..

 

And the newly born tiny wildflowers greet me from the ground in different colors and with different faces every day.

A walk during this season is the happiest moment for me. 

The sceneries of the spring wash off the dark shadow from my heart and float me up to the heaven.

I am expressing this feeling with my recipe today.

So, you also enjoy the spring of Japan by making and eating this lovely sweets.

(If you are interested in the flowers that I mentioned at the beginning, visit my Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kurinascooking/

 

 

 

Ichigo Sakura Dango /

Strawberry Flavored Sakura Dumplings

 

 

Ingredients (for 9 pieces)

 

30g Joshinko rice flour ＊refer to the notes

30g Shiramatako glutinous rice flour＊

30g Strawberries ＊

25g Water

15g Amazake or 10g Granulated sugar

9 pieces Sakura flowers preserved in salt＊

9 pieces Green color herb of your choice

The one in the photo is called “Suzume no endo” and can be found

easily in the wild field during spring.

Desired amount Sweet Red Bean Paste　　               

Preparation

1.   Start heating the pot filled with water over low heat.

2.   Ice water in a bowl.

3.   Wash off the salt from the sakura flowers by soaking them in the water for a few minutes. 

 

Method

1.   Blend the strawberries and water together in the blender.  Or strain the strawberries with a strainer and then add water and mix.

2.   Put the Shiratama glutinous rice flour in a bowl and add the juice of “1”.  Mix well with a spatula.

3.   Add Joshinko rice flour and kneed for a minute.

4.   Divide the dough into 9 pieces and make them into balls using your palms.

5.   Throw the dumplings into the boiling water one by one.

Do not throw from the high position, the boiling water could splash onto your hand and you might get burnt.

6.   The dumplings stay at the bottom initially, but they will float up to the surface later.  Let them dance there for a few minutes before taking them out into the ice water.

7.   Drain and decorate with a piece of cherry blossom and a green color herb.

 Sakura on top is the one preserved with the salt and plum vinegar from umeboshi making.

Eat with sweet red bean paste.

 

Skewered dumplings with a stick for kids.

Notes

1.   Rice Flour

“Joshinko “is the flour milled from the normal short grain rice.

“Shiratamako” is the flour made from the glutinous rice.  However, the process of making it is different from the normal glutinous rice flour.  The glutinous rice grains are milled, then soaked in the water and then dried up.  Though I use the word “flour”, it is not really the flour.   Take a look at the photo of method “2”, you can see the small blocks among course flour.  

The texture of dumpling made from “Shiratamako” is silkier and smoother compared with the normal glutinous rice flour.   The disadvantage of it is that it is not so easy to handle when we want to make the sphere round shape dumplings especially for the kids and beginners.

You can purchase those flours, preserved Sakura flowers and readymade sweet red bean paste at Tomiz, you can shop in English there. 

2.   Strawberries

You may think the strawberries are now in its season as you see lots of them displayed in every supermarket in Japan these days.  However, the real season of strawberries is late May. 

The strawberries you are seeing now or in other seasons are all raised in the green houses where the environment to grow the strawberries is artificially created.   

I know that foreigners are often impressed by the Japanese strawberries as they have pretty figures and taste very sweet.  

However, be aware that the normal Japanese strawberries are laden with chemicals such as pesticides and fungicides and residue of them is reported high.   Therefore, do not eat too much nor too often if you are concerned about your health and environment. 

When you eat them, wash very carefully.   Some advisers are saying that washing in diluted baking soda or vinegar helps to drain those chemicals out.   I usually soak in the salt water for 5 min as I feel better in this way. 

Alternatively, you can look for the strawberries raised in the natural methods though it may not be so easy to find and even if you did, those are expensive.  Or you can raise by yourself in the garden or in the planter, which you can harvest only in late May. 

3.   “Shindo Fuji” / Eat locally, Eat seasonally.

As I mentioned above, Japanese strawberries have an issue with the agricultural chemicals. 

However, I consider it is a minor one compared with the issues brought up by some other foods which are often consumed in vegan cooking such as avocado, coconut, banana, chocolate etc. 

Those foods are all imported from the financially not well-off countries, and in some cases, it involves unhumanitarian treatment of people and animals in the process of raising and manufacturing them. 

I think there are more items that are raised or manufactured by violating human and animal rights in reality, apart from those mentioned foods.  

When we consume something that we cannot see how it is raised or processed with our eyes, we have to contemplate and try to know how they are made, especially if the item is something we consume daily or frequently.    Without doing so, we should not purchase that food blindly just because it is tasty, cheap, or convenient. 

We should not deprive the dignities from any people nor animals for our pleasure.  

“Shindo Fuji” is the word used in Macrobiotics, which means eat locally and seasonally in harmony with the nature.  

I think it is the safest way to minimize the harms that we might create. 

Happy cooking! 

 

タグ：いちご 桜 だんご マクロビオティック ビーガン あんこ Hachidory Strawberry sakura Cherry blossom sweet red beans Japanese vegan macrobiotics Spring 春 上新粉 白玉粉 イチゴ　農薬 あんこレシピ 桜花 rice flour 身土不二 Shindofuji