A plate of warabi mochi, a long time favorite Japanese sweet. There are still people with wood carts that they roll, or more often these days small vans, that pass in residential towns at the hour of tea break. They shoot “warabiiiiii mochiiii….” to call customers. Kids, older kids rush out of their houses to buy some.

1.catch a bit with the pick

2. Roll it in a mix of kinako and sugar (or kinako and kuro mitsu black sugar syrup)

3. Guess !
I really don’t know. Maybe it’s decorative. Or they give them to the cat.
I ate them. All. Mmmmmm ! It’s delicious, fresh and nutty, not too sweet (you may skip the sugar).

Well, there was a point zero.
0. Mix about 30 g (2/3 tbs) of warabi-ko (bracken starch) and a cup of water. Cook while stiring with a wooden spatula. First you have a white liquid, then a white paste, then a transparent paste (avoid doing it in a white sauce pan). When it’s all clear, shape balls and throw in iced water -not easy, you should train a lot to become a pro.
Short-cut : tranfer all the paste into a wet mold, let cool 1-2 hours. They can be chilled in the fridge, or -more traditional- at room temperature. Before serving, cut in cubes in a plate of water as you want them wet.

Kinako is powdered grilled soy bean. I use natural cane sugar. Half/half is classic. For me 20% sugar is enough.

So if you can get warabi starch and kinako from you local Asian store, try that some hot day.

other Japanese sweets