Red Bean Ohagi~

This was inspired by the yummie-licious red bean Ohagi i had last saturday at Isetan supermarket. Ohagi basically means sweet rice ball, which is a delicious japanese dessert that is usually filled with sesame or red bean paste.

i made a couple of modifications to make a healthier version of the Ohagi. i don't have short grain japanese rice at home, so i replaced it with a mixture of brown and white rice and reduced the sugar content in the red bean paste.

~*Red Bean Ohagi*~

A nice combination of flavours from the sweetness of the red bean paste and the salty sesame coating.

Recipe (Makes 2 rolls/12 pieces)

Ingredients

• 200 g Red beans
• 600 ml Water
• 2 Tbs Maple syrup/Honey
• 3 Tbs Equal sweetener
• 1/2 Cup Black sesame seeds
• 1 tsp Fine salt
• 1 tsp Ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 1/2 Cup Brown/white rice grains

Method

1. Cook/steam the rice grains in water. Leave aside to cool to room temperature.

Red Bean Paste

1. Boil the red beans in water till soft.
2. Drain the water and mash the red beans .
3. Add the maple syrup/honey, sweetener and mix well.

Black Sesame Coating

1. Ground the black sesame seeds till fine. (Be careful do not to over grind, you don't wanna end up with black sesame paste instead.)
2. Mix in the ground cinnamon and salt and leave aside.

Assembly

1. Lay a piece of cling wrap above a bamboo mat. Place the rice at the center (about 3/5 of the bamboo mat area) of the cling wrap and spread them out evenly.
2. Spread a layer of red bean paste on top of the rice (at the center about 3/5 the area of the rice).
3. With the aid of the bamboo mat and the cling wrap roll up to form a firm and cylindrical rice roll.
4. Wet the surface of the knife and cut the rice roll into 6 pieces.
5. Coat each piece with ground black sesame.
6. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Enjoy!