A Summertime Sweet from Tohoku: Zunda (Edamame) Mochi. This traditional Japanese dessert couples boiled mochi (rice cakes) and a vibrant green paste consisting of mashed edamame beans. Zunda mochi is typically associated with Sendai, but it is common throughout the entire Tohoku region. Zunda mochi is made with mochi coated with sweetened mashed edamame, which is popular mainly in the southern part of Tohoku district.

Zunda mochi is the local sweets of southern Tohoku. Click to rate this recipe: Desserts do not come much easier, or much more unique, than this edamame recipe. Edamame are immature soy beans that are generally sprinkled with salt and eaten as an appetiser, or combined with rice or pasta. You can have A Summertime Sweet from Tohoku: Zunda (Edamame) Mochi using 4 ingredients and 10 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of A Summertime Sweet from Tohoku: Zunda (Edamame) Mochi

1. It’s 1 bag of Edamame.
2. It’s 50 grams of Castor sugar.
3. It’s 1/4 tsp of plus Salt.
4. It’s 7 of to 8 Store-bought sliced mochi cakes (if available).

Edamame are seasonal. "Zunda mochi" uses edamame, or young soybeans, that can only be harvested for three to four days in the summer. This "zunda mochi" has an exquisite, seasonal flavor that can only be enjoyed during the season in which producers harvest the edamame. Great recipe for A Summertime Sweet from Tohoku: Zunda (Edamame) Mochi. In Iwate prefecture, where I'm from, this is a very popular snack.

A Summertime Sweet from Tohoku: Zunda (Edamame) Mochi instructions

1. Boil the edamame in salted water until tender (just go with the same big pinch of salt that you'd use to boil edamame regularly)..
2. Take the edamame out of their pods, and peel the thin skin off the beans. Put the peeled beans in a grinding bowl. (The beans with the pods and skins removed should be about 100 to 130 g.).
3. Grind the edamame into a smooth paste. It's important not to leave any lumps. Carefully grind the beans for a smooth, creamy paste..
4. Once the edamame beans are mashed, keep grinding as you would grind sesame seeds until it's as smooth as possible..
5. Add sugar in several batches, and keep grinding to dissolve..
6. Add the salt and grind it in. The zunda-an (edamame bean paste) is done..
7. Cut the mochi cakes in half and put in a heatproof dish. Add enough water to cover the mochi, and microwave until softened..
8. Drain the mochi well, and serve with the zunda-an..
9. Store-bought zunda-an has water to make it more creamy. To make yours like the kind you'd find at the store, add a little water that's been boiled and cooled..
10. The zunda-an is also delicious with shiratama dumplings instead of mochi. You can also use it as a spread on bread, or to fill various sweets. The zunda-an can also be frozen if you want to keep it for longer..

It's made in every household during edamame season, and served with green tea. Boil the edamame until they're very tender, or you'll have a hard time. Zunda-mochi is a traditional dessert of Northeast Japan. It is mochi covered with zunda, which is sweet edamame (green soybeans) paste. Zunda is mostly used for sweets but salty version is also eaten in Northeast Japan.