Sugar and rice and everything nice. That’s what the tastiest Girl’s Day treats are made of.
 


Too bad your Japanese cooking skills stop at hurricane popcorn and instant ramen.
 To help you fake it ‘till you, ahem, make it, we’ve hunted down quite possibly the easiest mochi recipe (the traditional Doll Festival snack) known to woman. 
 


Completely oishii, it requires no less than a whopping nine minutes of cook time and only four ingredients.
 


Talk about a rice cake walk.


 

Microwave Mochi
Ingredients:
2 cups mochiko (rice flour)
¾ cup sugar
2 cups water
1 can tsubushian (sweetened red azuki bean paste)

Directions:
Mix the mochiko, sugar, and water with a drop of red food coloring in a microwaveable bowl. Cover. Microwave on HIGH for 9 minutes. Spread potato starch on plastic cutting board. Divide mochi into 18 pieces. Flatten each piece and fill it with ½ teaspoon of tsubushian. Pinch the edges together around the end to seal. Shape into patties and dust with potato starch.

Recipe excerpted with permission from "Girl’s Day in Hawai’i with Yuki-chan," by Tokie Ikeda Ching (Mutual Publishing). To purchase or for more info, click here .