My first attempt to make saka manju, using sakadane, ended in a total failure.
酒種を使って酒まんじゅうを作る初めての挑戦はまったくの失敗に終わりました。
Very dense (very similar to oyaki or yakimochi in texture) and slightly sour.
とても重くて（食感は、おやき（やきもち）によく似ている）、ちょっと酸っぱいです。
I think I'd better start making bread in a usual way, using dry yeast, before making another attempt to make sakadane bread.
酒種パン作りに挑戦する前にドライイーストを使って通常の方法でパンを作ったほうがいいと思います。
No one is born with the ability to make bread (sigh)...
生まれつき、パンを作る能力を持っている人はいません（ため息）...。
I am sorry for this. I am still not quite sure about your goal: To grow own yeast / rising agent based on the rice fungus and bake bread / mochi based on this?
ReplyDeleteThan the alcoholic smell was a bad sign: lots of starved to dead or dying cells. Yeasty components smell fruity.
Kiki: My ultimate goal is to make bread from 80% wheat flour and 20% rice flour, using home-made sakadane as a leavening agent. I'm playing around before attempting to reach that goal.
ReplyDeleteI have a bag of sake kasu in the fridge, and will try to make sakadane with it sooner or later. (I'm not quite sure if fully fermented sakadane smells fruity.)
They look like my favourite Chinese steamed yeast dumplings filled with pork. Sorry to hear your experiment was not a success. I have never even tried to make bread. I'm almost sure it wouldn't work. (But I must try the dumplings one day! they seem easier ;-)
ReplyDeleteSissi: "Niku man" (or "buta man")! They look like saka manju, and yes, they are much easier to make.
ReplyDelete(Saka manju are also easier to make if you use sake kasu for flavoring and dry yeast or baking powder as a leavening agent.)
It's funny because recently one of the two Japanese grocery shops in my city started selling these dumplings! (They also cook lunch, which can be eaten in the "restaurant" part, mainly sushi, and sell these as takeaway too) I have thought at first it was because of one of the shop assistants who is Chinese and a kind of manager I think... but now I see it's actually popular in Japan (another point on my tasting list for next trip!).
ReplyDeleteSissi: In that case, I have to tell you that you have to remember the right word:
ReplyDeleteniku man in Kanto (Tokyo, etc.)
buta man in Kansai (Osaka, etc.)
There are similar buns like
an man, pizza man, and curry man
as described here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikuman
So, you have to explicitly specify what you want.
I like niku man very much, but I hate an man. I once had a miserable experience of having to eat an man because someome mistakely bought an man.
Thank you, Hiroyuki. I will check what they call it here, I'm curious. As a big pork fan, I prefer "buta man" name ;-)
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't like an man because I am not fond of azuki bean paste... There are really rare Japanese dishes or food I don't like but azuki bean paste (sweetened!) is one of them. I don't like especially the floury texture. It reminds me of the French chestnut paste which I was told the Japanese love... (My husband too!) but I cannot stand its floury texture and high sweetness.
Update: I just went to my Japanese shop (bought two more chawan mushi bowls because now my husband is a fan too...). They didn't have any buns left, but the price tag said "buta man" so the owner must be from Osaka maybe! They sell two kinds: butaman and sobayaki man which is explained as "pork and noodles". Both sound delicious... If I lived closer it would be a big danger.
ReplyDeleteSissi: I have to tell you one more thing: I like regular an (azuki + sugar), as in an pan, but I hate an in an man because of the addition of black sesame seeds, which makes the texture and flavor quite different from regular an.
ReplyDeleteChestnut paste? I love it!!! You mean you don't like Mont Blanc? It's huge in Japan!
I didn't know it was popular in Japan, but since you like chestnut paste so much, I'm not surprised! I have tried it both sweet (the paste and the famous French "marrons glacés") and simply grilled (they sell it all winter long in the street here) and I really cannot like chestnut... I always have some chestnut paste at home though because my husband loves it just the way it is: straight from the can ;-)
ReplyDeleteSissi: I envy your husband. I'm sure that if I ever get a can of French chestnut paste, 80% of it will be consumed by my wife, 15% by my two children, and 5% by me.
ReplyDeleteHiroyuki, if I ever go to Northern Japan I will bring you, but since it's not planned yet, I would be very happy to send you some! Just let me know.
ReplyDeleteChestnutpaste is really great. Lucky they don't sell it in big cans only but in small tubes too (125 ml). I always have some tubes in storage.
ReplyDeleteIn July I am going to visit Southern France and I will buy as much as I can because the chestnut products are less expensive there. Besides I will also visit Geneve on my way back. Maybe I can visit this fabulous japanese store selling buta man - Sissi please send me the address of the store.
Sissi: Thank you for your kind offer. I'll let you know when and if we crave for French chestnut paste desperately.
ReplyDeleteKiki: I'm thinking of making niku man in the future. My problem is that I am still on a diet, and I have a backlog of dishes I want to make, like anbo, bread, and cornbread, and I can't say when I will make niku man.