Iga manju ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

1. Make azuki bean paste. （Wash azuki beans and boil them in plenty of water (1.5L).

2. When it starts to simmer, add about 200 cc of water.

3. When it boils again, discard the hot water.

4. Add 1L of water and simmer until softened (about 1 hour).

5. Add sugar in two parts and finally salt. Then reduce to a simmer until all the water is absorbed, keeping an eye on the pot to make sure it does not burn.

6. Draw a straight line on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, and when it becomes a single line, it is done.

7. Transfer to a baking pan and when cooled, roll into a ball to make bean paste.

8. Make the manju. Put the whiskers in boiling water and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Then, remove from heat, drain off the white bean curd and cool in a separate container. When cool, soak the glutinous rice in the broth overnight. Drain off the water in a colander, and steam the white bean curd and glutinous rice together for about 30 minutes. You can also use the "Okowa mode" of the rice cooker with the default amount of water for the whitebait and glutinous rice.

9. Divide the azuki bean paste from 7 into 30g portions and roll into rounds.

10. Mix flour with baking powder and shake 3 times. Add sugar water (dissolve sugar with milk and water using a whisk). Mix the dough for the dumpling wrap, but do not knead it. Then cut the dough into 30g pieces and roll them out. Roll out the dough, wrap the filling and shape into a ball.

11. Place the red rice on a flat surface in a steamer, arrange the 3 ingredients on top, cover with more red rice, and steam on high heat for about 15 minutes.

12. Remove from heat, remove excess sekihan and shape into a shape.