Cherry Blossom Inspired Recipes for Hanami

With the cherry blossom blooming in parks throughout Japan, spring has officially begun. Alongside the gorgeous plants and trees bursting into life comes hanami, the Japanese tradition of picnicking beneath the beautiful blossom of the cherry trees. To help you welcome in spring, we have put together some of our favourite recipes for traditional hanami treats!

Sakura Mochi

Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom, so many products in Japan in the springtime will be referred to as ‘sakura’. This particular treat is made from sweet rice, and tends to be filled with red bean paste and wrapped in a pickled cherry leaf, which tastes salty. This recipe will make 6 mochi.

Ingredients:

255g sweet or glutinous rice

180ml water

100g red bean paste

1 tbsp sugar

1 drop red food colouring

6 pickled sakura leaves

Method:

1. Place the rice in a bowl and soak it for a minimum of an hour. The rice can be left overnight to soak if needed. Drain well before use.
2. The sakura leaves also need to be soaked, but only for 15 minutes, in order to remove some of the salt they are preserved in. Dry the leaves with some kitchen roll.
3. Dampen your hands and roll the red bean paste into six small, equal balls.
4. Add the water and red food colouring to the rice and mix. Cover the bowl with some cling film and microwave for 3 minutes. Remove and stir, before returning to the microwave for another 3 minutes.
5. Add sugar to the rice mix and stir. Lightly mash the rice with a pestle until it sticks together. Divide the rice into six sections.
6. Cut a piece of cling film and lie it flat on a table or counter. Place one of the six rice portions onto it and spread flat into a rectangular shape. Add one of the red bean paste balls into the centre and roll the rice over to cover it. Shape the rice using the cling film until it forms an oval shape.
7. Finally, remove the plastic and wrap the mochi with a sakura leaf. It will take about an hour for the rice to absorb the full flavour of the leaf, so it is best to leave the mochi out at room temperature for this time before you enjoy them!

Hanami Dango

These tri-colour treats are enjoyed during cherry blossom viewing days in Japan. Made from sweetened rice flour, and coloured to represent the springtime blooms, these sweets are served in threes on a stick. This recipe makes eight sticks worth of dango.Ingredients:

120g Japanese rice flour

120g sweet or glutinous rice flour

120g granulated sugar

180ml hot water

5g Yomogi (or 1.5 tsp matcha green tea powder if unavailable)

1 drop red food colouring (or crushed raspberries for a more natural colouring)

Method:

1. Put both types of flour and the sugar into a large bowl and combine.
2. Add a small amount of hot water and mix well, gradually adding more water until the dough is soft and holds together, but is not sticky. If it is too dry or too sticky, add more water or more flour as needed.
3. Split the dough into three parts. Put one aside to be the plain white one. Add red food colouring or crushed raspberries to the second.
4. Traditional recipes use Yomogi, or mugwort, to colour the green ball. If you are using yomogi, put it in a bowl with two tablespoons of hot water and mix with a fork. Use a mesh tea strainer to strain the yomogi and pour away the liquid. Mix this moist yomogi into the third portion of dough and knead until the colour is fully combined and even. If you cannot find Yomogi, then matcha green tea can be used instead as a colouring.
5. Divide each of the coloured dough portions into eight even sections and shape each into a ball. You should have eight of each colour.
6. Boil a large pan of water. Add the white dango first, boiling them for around eight minutes until they begin to float. Once they start floating, keep them boiling for another minute before immediately removing and adding into a bowl of ice water to cool. Then place them on a plate.
7. Next, repeat this process for the pink dango, and then the green dango.
8. Serve the dango on skewers, ordered green, white, then pink at the top. Serve when at room temperature and enjoy!

For more information on Hanami, read our guide! If you need any ingredients to attempt these recipes, then check out the range of oriental supermarket food we have available here at Oriental Mart!