葛焼き
- They are actually quite easy to make, but they need to sleep about half a day (or night) before they can be grilled.
- They are very satisfying to bite into and for some reason, they actually, really give a cooling sensation in the mouth. Unlike 羊羹, they can't be chilled (葛 doesn't like that, it'll turn rubbery), so the effect is quite noticeable!
Recipe
- 100 gr 葛 flour
- 200 gr sugar
- 400 gr water
- 150 gr luke-warm water
- 上新粉 for dusting
Method
- It can look a bit one dimensional, so most variations use two different colours that are just barely mixed. This looks very pretty when cut! So divide ingredients in half.
- Mix sugar and 葛, add water and mix. Sieve, then heat until sticky.
- Into the warm water, add the food colouring and add it in little steps to the sticky dough until incorporated (that's the TT method. Other videos don't bother with that.)
- Add the two colours into the 流し器 and just barely mix (TT mixes it in the pot, but I find it easy to overmix that way)
- Steam the whole affair for 10' under a cloth-lined lid.
- Take out, cover with a moist, cool cloth and let it cool on the counter (not the fridge!) for half a day
- Then powder with 上新粉, upend and let fall out. More 上新粉, then cut. It makes a big difference if you manage to cut them straight, so using a string to cut might be a good idea here.
- Cover all sides with 上新粉, brush away excess and grill in Teflon until slightly firmed. For me, that was about 45 seconds per side on 6.
👆 I wonder if adding a little bit of sugar to the 上新粉 could give a bit of a caramelised surface and a more satisfying bite?
- They can be brandied afterwards with butterflies, for example, or water patterns.
