How To Make Nerikiri

Small Bite Desserts: In honor of our 6th birthday, we’re celebrating with cake…or another small bite dessert that fits your fancy. Show us your healthy small bite dessert creation.

I can’t believe the Recipe ReDux is turning 6! I’ve been a part of this group for about 2/3 of that–my first post was with these vegan Walnut Oat Patties! :]

When I was last back in California (April), I got together with my best friend for our annual cooking adventures! We made this Winter Citrus and Squash Salad, along with Roasted Baby Carrots…and also a super cute/fun dessert! I’m going to be going over how to make nerikiri today! :]

Nerikiri is a form of wagashi (a traditional Japanese sweet) and is basically made of white bean paste, sugar, sweet rice flour and water.

The fun part for this dessert is the fact that the consistency is rather similar to clay or playdough, so you can mold it into all sorts of fun shapes!

For instance, our pineapple and a couple really plump birds here:

Another cool thing about this dessert is the fact that you can make em’ colorful and get even more creative! It’d be a fun cooking activity to get into if you have kids (or if you’re a child at heart)!

We didn’t get too fancy this time around since it was our first time making it and we wanted to just use ingredients that we already had hanging out at my friend’s apartment. You can use food coloring if you choose, orrrr you can get creative with random ingredients like we did!

• Black: black cocoa powder
• Brown: cocoa powder
• Green: matcha
• Yellow: turmeric
• Greyish-purple: azuki/red bean paste

How To Make Nerikiri

Print Recipe

How To Make Nerikiri

Nerikiri is a type of wagashi (Japanese traditional sweet) that makes for a fun and creative dessert!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Japanese

Ingredients

Shiro-an/sweet white bean paste

• 1 cup 200g white kidney beans
• ~3/4 cup 160g granulated sugar

Nerikiri

• 1 cup 200g Shiro-an (sweet white bean paste)
• ~1 tbsp + 1 tsp 10g shiratamako (sweet rice flour)
• ~1 1/2 tbsp water

Instructions

Shiro-an - sweet white bean paste

• Wash white beans with water and let soak in water overnight. (The beans will triple in size!)
• Add beans and enough water to cover them in a saucepan and boil over high heat. After the water comes to a boil, cook for 5 minutes on low heat.
• Turn off the heat and cover the saucepan for 5 min.
• Remove into a strainer, shell the beans and then soak again in fresh water.
• Add beans and enough water to cover into the saucepan again and bring to a boil. After it comes to a boil, remove the bean residue from the water.
• Decrease the heat and boil for 120 minutes.
• Pass beans through a strainer and wash with water. Repeat this 3 times.
• Pass the beans through a bleached cotton cloth and wring thoroughly.
• Put the beans into a saucepan and add 160g sugar. Mix until well combined, then knead on medium heat with a wooden spatula for 5-10 minutes.
• Let cool on a tray.

Nerikiri

• Add water to sweet rice flour little by little, mixing well with your hands.
• Add this mixture to the white bean paste and knead on medium heat with a wooden spatula.
• Turn off the heat and spread a thin layer of nerikiri into the saucepan to let it dry.
• Transfer into different bowls for coloring!

Notes

The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days or ~1 month if frozen!

I wish we’d had berries or beets or something to make reddish/pinkish colors since that would’ve opened up a whole ‘nother realm of creations, but perhaps next time!

Yay for pandas and avocados? :D

Or you can make cartoonish poops ice cream scoops.

• What shapes/characters would you make with this?!
• What’s your favorite mini-dessert to enjoy? :]
• If you cook, what’s one of your earliest recipe creations?