step 1
To make the Kuromitsu, Put the Kurozato Dark Brown Sugar (1/3 cup), Honey (1 Tbsp), and Water (2 cups) in the pot and heat it on the medium heat.
step 2
Mix the ingredients constantly until honey dissolves completely. When it boils, stop the heat and wait till it cools down. Place the kuromitsu in a container and let it rest in the fridge for a while.
step 3
To make the Kanten, measure the Water (1/3 cup) in the pot and add the Kanten or Agar-Agar Powder (1 tsp). Turn on the heat at medium and lightly stir the mixture with a spatula while cooking.
step 4
When the water starts to boil, reduce the heat to low, simmer for around 2 minutes, making sure to constantly stir the kanten in the water. Pour the kanten in a container and let it rest in the fridge. Kanten will harden itself within 20~30 minutes.
step 5
To make the Matcha Kanten, pour 1/4 of kanten on another container and mix it with Matcha Powder (1/2 Tbsp). If you don’t like the green tea bitterness, add a little sugar.
step 6
Mix the Sweet Glutinous Rice Flour (1/2 cup), Silken Tofu (2.5 oz), and Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (2 Tbsp), and knead with your hand until the dough becomes smooth. If the mixture is too dry, add a little tofu, until the dough is just right.
step 7
Separate the dough into 2 colors. Take 1/4 of the dough and knead again with Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (2 Tbsp). The color of brown turns darker after boiling, so no need to put too much cocoa powder this time.
step 8
Make panda faces! Oh this was so much fun. When attaching ears to the face, make sure the dough is sticky enough to stick together, otherwise, they might fall apart when boiling. No one likes earless pandas!
step 9
Boil the pandas! Toss the pandas gentry in a boiling water with a low heat, and cook them till they float. It should take around 5 minutes. Pick up the floating pandas. When pandas start to float, it’s time to eat!
step 10
Cut the Kanten. Your kanten should be hardened and ready to be cut. Run a knife several times to make kanten cubes. Place kanten to the plate.
step 11
Cut the Orange (1) into wedges.
step 12
Decorate with Ice Cream (1 scoop), Fresh Strawberries (3), 3 orange wedges, and Red Bean Paste (3 Tbsp) to finish. Set kuromitsu on a side of the plate and you’re DONE! Now you’ve made a beautiful Panda Shiratama Anmitsu!
