Ohagi (Botamochi)

1. Gather all the ingredients. For easy transfer, I use aluminum cup liners to hold the Ohagi (Botamochi). You can get them in the bento section of a Japanese grocery store.

To Prepare the Glutinous Rice

1. Combine 1½ cups sweet rice/glutinous rice (mochigome) and ¾ cup uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice together in a large bowl. Add water to quickly rinse, then immediately pour off the water.
2. Use your fingers to gently wash the rice in a circular motion for 10–15 seconds. Add water to rinse and discard the water. Repeat this process 1–2 times. When the water is almost clear, drain the rice well in a fine-mesh sieve.
3. Transfer the drained rice to a rice cooker. Add 2½ cups water.
4. Let the rice soak for 20 minutes. Then, press Start to cook on regular rice cooking mode.

To Prepare the Coatings and Filling

1. While the rice is cooking, prepare the coatings and filling. First, add 6 Tbsp toasted black sesame seeds to a Japanese mortar and grind with a pestle.
2. Transfer to a medium bowl and add 2 Tbsp sugar. Mix well together.
3. In another medium bowl, combine 6 Tbsp kinako (roasted soybean flour) and 2 Tbsp sugar and mix well together.
4. Using a small cookie scoop, make red bean paste balls for the filling with 1.3 lb sweet red bean paste (anko). Each ball should be 2 teaspoons (0.7 oz or 20 g) of red bean paste. I made 8 balls of filling and set aside the rest to make anko-coated sweet rice balls (see the section below).

To Pound the Cooked Rice

1. When the rice is almost finished cooking, make saltwater by combining 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt with 1 cup water. Mix well together. This is for soaking the wooden rolling pin or pestle before pounding the glutinous rice.
2. Once the rice is cooked, remove the rice cooker bowl from the cooker. While it’s hot, start pounding it with the wooden pestle or rolling pin.
3. The wooden rolling pin gets sticky from the glutinous rice. Soak it every few poundings. Stop pounding when the glutinous rice is half mashed/pounded. This is up to your liking. The rice should be mostly mashed but you can still see some rice grains.

To Make with Anko Filling

1. To make anko-filled sweet rice balls, moisten your hands with the saltwater and grab a small amount of pounded glutinous rice (1.4 oz or 40 g). Form it to make a round shape.
2. Once it’s about 2½ inches in diameter, put one ball of anko in the middle.
3. Carefully gather up the pounded glutinous rice around the anko to enclose the filling.
4. Pinch the seam and form it into a small oval-shaped ball.
5. Moisten the plate or tray with saltwater and place the oval-shaped rice balls on the tray. Repeat to make the rest of the anko-filled balls. If you will also make anko-coated sweet rice balls (see the section below), divide and set aside some of the glutinous rice.
6. To coat with soybean flour (kinako), put the rice ball (with anko filling) in the sweet soybean flour mix. Rotate a few times to coat well with the mixture and transfer to an aluminum foil liner.
7. To coat with black sesame, put the rice ball (with anko filling) in the sweet sesame mix. Rotate a few times to coat well with the mixture and transfer to an aluminum liner.

To Make with Anko Coating

1. Make small, unfilled, oval-shaped balls with the pounded glutinous rice (1.4 oz or 40 g each). Here, I made 8 sweet rice balls.
2. Using a small cookie scoop, spread 2 scoops of anko (a total of 4 teaspoons, 1.4 oz, or 40 g) into a round, flat shape on a piece of plastic wrap.
3. Put the rice ball on top and evenly coat the anko around the rice ball.
4. Pull the plastic wrap and spread the anko evenly. Unwrap the Ohagi and transfer it to an aluminum liner.

To Serve

1. When you’re ready to serve Ohagi (Botamochi), reapply the black sesame and soybean flour mixture. Serve them with green tea.

To Store

1. It’s best to keep them in a cool place and enjoy them as soon as possible (within a half day or 12 hours). If it’s too warm to keep at room temperature, I recommend storing them in the refrigerator, but cover the container with a thick towel to protect the from cold air. Ideally, they should be kept cool. You can also freeze Ohagi for up to 1 month. When you’re ready to eat, defrost overnight in the refrigerator. To bring them back an ideal texture, Ohagi should be reheated gently in the microwave until warm or at room temperature for you to enjoy.