Zenzai

Method

1. 1 Soak red beans for 8 hours, then boil them for 5 minutes and drain the water to remove the bitterness.
2. 2 Reheat the beans with fresh water for 50 minutes until they are soft but still retain their shape.
3. 3 Keeping the beans whole is what distinguishes zenzai from finely ground oshiruko.
4. 4 Add sugar in three stages, with a 5-minute interval between each stage, to prevent the beans from shrinking.
5. 5 Grill the mochi on a dry griddle for 4 minutes until it puffs up and cracks, then pour hot tea into a bowl and place the mochi on top.
6. 6 Knead glutinous rice flour with water to form small shiratama balls, then boil them until they float to the surface.

With an appliance

• Pressure cooker 48 min

  Replace step 2: cook the drained red beans under high pressure for 18 minutes, then release the pressure naturally for 10 minutes; this reduces the cooking time to about 22 minutes compared to the usual 50 minutes, resulting in soft beans with no need to add water. Sugar in step 4 is still added three times after opening the lid to prevent the beans from shrinking, and the mochi is still baked separately.