- xash -

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup domyojiko flour (glutinous rice flour)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup koshian (sweet beans)
• *red food color
• 8 sakura (Japanese cherry blossom) leaves pickled in salted water

Preparation:

Wash pickled sakura leaves and dry them with paper towel. Boil water in a pan. Mix domyojiko flour in the water. Cover the pan with a lid and leave it for 5 minutes. Place a wet cloth in a steamer and put the dough on the cloth. Steam the dough for about 20 minutes over medium heat. Remove the steamed dough to a bowl. Mash the dough slightly with a wooden pestle, mixing sugar in. Dissolve a little bit of red food color in some water. Add some of the red water in the dough and mix well. Divide the pink rice cake into 8 balls. Flat each rice cake ball by hands and place anko filling on the dough. Wrap the anko with the rice cake and rounds by hands. Wrap each rice cake with a sakura leaf. Makes 8 pieces