Kinds of Wagashi
大福・だいふく
Daifuku
Bean paste wrapped in soft mochi — the most familiar wagashi of all.
Daifuku is a sweet in which bean paste is wrapped in mochi or gyuhi dough. Because of its plump shape it was once called harabuto-mochi (“big belly mochi”), and it is said that the auspicious characters for daifuku, “great fortune,” were given to it later.
There are many varieties: mame-daifuku with red peas mixed in, kusa-daifuku with mugwort pounded into the mochi, shio-daifuku with a touch of salt. Ichigo-daifuku, which wraps a whole strawberry, appeared in the later Showa era and is now a firm favorite of spring.
Freshly made daifuku is exceptional for the softness of its mochi.
