Ohagi = rice cake covered with sweet red bean paste
We eat Ohagi in Obon. The spirits of the dead people come back during Obon. At home, we entertain the spirits of our ancestors. We offer vegetarian dishes and ohagis.
In Japan, dead people are not gods. They are just dead people.
I cooked Ohagi with my mother.
This Ohagi recipe was passed down from my mother's mother.
How to make Red bean paste = Anko
1. Boil the red beans in plenty of boiling water until the skin is soft.
2. Filter the red beans. Don't use a food processor. Because it will be smoother if you use a pestle. Occasionally pouring the boiling juice over them will make them easier to crush. Catch it below. Throw away any leftovers on the strainer.
3. Squeeze the accumulated paste and juice with a cloth.
4. Put the paste left in the cloth into the pot. And add white sugar about 30% to 40% of the paste and a small amount of salt.
5. Put this pot on fire. Sugar melts and blends. Don't burn it.
Taste and add sugar if needed.
How to make Rice cake
Soak half glutinous rice and half white rice in water overnight. For example 200g of water for 150g of rice. Add a little solt. And steam. Cook normally in a rice cooker. When steaming in a microwave oven, heat for 10 minutes at 500 watts, then leave for 30 minutes.
When the rice is cooked, pound it with a pestle. Only glutinous rice is crushed, and grains of white rice remain.
Shape the rice into balls whille hot.
At the end
Wrap rice cake with red bean paste.
