Mizu Manju Chilled Translucent Bean-Paste Dumplings
Quick answer
- Total time
- 55 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 15 servings
- Ingredients
- 5
About this dish
Mizu manju is an Ogaki summer confection from Gifu that encloses red bean paste in a translucent dough of kudzu and warabi starch, steams it in small sake-cup molds, and cools it in water.
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Ogaki, long called a city of water because households used abundant groundwater to chill produce, is said to have developed the sweet during the Meiji era as a cold summer treat. Kudzu starch alone can disperse in water and become hard when chilled, so warabi starch is blended in for water resistance and a tender chew. Both powders must dissolve completely in cold water before sugar is added and the mixture is cooked with constant scraping until it resembles translucent paste. Dough, bean filling, and more dough are layered in each mold, then steamed for ten minutes until clear. At home, potable ice water replaces an open well for rapid safe cooling. The chilled wrapper remains soft while revealing the bean paste within.
Ingredients
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Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Step
Rinse the insides of fifteen heatproof sake-cup molds with cold water and stand them on a shallow steamer tray.
Divide 170g smooth bean paste into fifteen firm balls and keep chilled.
- 2Step
Place 90g kudzu starch and 12g warabi starch in a heavy pan.
Whisk in 720ml cold water in four portions, then pass once through a fine sieve to remove every lump.
- 3Control
Add 180g sugar and place over medium-low heat.
Scrape the bottom and corners continuously with a heatproof spatula for 8 to 12 minutes, stopping when the white liquid becomes a heavy translucent paste.
- 4Control
Fill each mold halfway with hot dough and make a hollow with a wet spoon.
Add one chilled bean-paste ball and cover to the rim with remaining dough so the filling is not exposed.
- 5Control
Place the entire tray in a fully steaming cooker and cover with a cloth-wrapped lid.
Steam vigorously for 10 minutes until all the dough is clear and the centers are set.
- 6Step
Remove from the steamer and let excess heat escape for 10 minutes.
Set the molds halfway into ice water made from potable water, chill completely, then release each edge with a wet spoon and unmold.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- 90g kudzu starch with 12g warabi starch
- Finish cue
- Scrape the bottom and corners continuously with a heatproof spatula for 8 to 12 minutes, stopping when the white liquid becomes a heavy translucent paste.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
55min, 5 ingredients
Category median
45min, 6 ingredients
Based on 144 recipes
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