What goes well with kinako? And general help w/ Japanese/Asian desserts

November 10, 2013 10:30 PM

My friend does a ramen night every so often, where he makes ramen completely from scratch. I'm often tasked with dessert because I'm a blogger and baker... I've already made plenty of desserts with black sesame and green tea so I want to try something new. I have taro powder and was originally going to do something with taro and coconut. I already even made taro marshmallows. But then I remembered that I had bought a bag of kinako/soybean flour some time ago and I should use it... I found a recipe for a kinako chiffon cake but would an ice cream be better?

I have a great ice cream cookbook that features a recipe for kinako ice cream.
My question is what would go well with it...
First I thought of making mini coconut or chocolate macaron shells as a topping...
Or perhaps swirling red bean paste or honey through it?
Black sesame seeds on top?
Drop in the taro marshmallows?
I've heard kinako tastes nutty but I want to figure it out before I make the ice cream in case I need to swirl something into it before it sets...
Just looking for more flavor combos if you guys have any...
Thanks!

posted by picarosado to Food & Drink (4 answers total)

Best answer: Kinako tastes great sprinkled on ice cream, sort of like how you would have a powdered sugar donut, because the texture is like powdered sugar it lends itself to being used in a similar way. It's especially good on home made black sesame ice cream. Just don't call it "Asian" as Japanese food is worlds apart from other Asian food despite what so called "Japanese" foods and "Asian" foods would have you believe, and if there's any word these days that needs quotes around it, that's it. Traditionally in Japanese desserts/confectionaries kinako would come on top of things made with pounded rice (really nice gooey texture) or jelly type desserts. I'm not sure how your above suggestions would taste (but I think the coconut macaroon topping sounds best), but maybe trying the traditional desserts would give you a sense of how kinako works/doesn't work.
posted by Blitz at 11:06 PM on November 10, 2013

Kinako is a great dusting powder. If you want to go further, and have access to the mostly straightforawrd ingredients, you can also use it to dust mochi after making them (this is a sample recipe I have used, but there are a lot of varieties out there).

I have had kinako ice cream, and it does taste good, but I never made it. Recipes can be had online (I have not used this). Nutty would be a good one-word summary.

In my situation, I informally teach Japanese cooking classes. After a couple sessions I decided mochi was too messy for my lackadaisical cleaning and swtiched to dorayaki. They are easy, quite acceptable to the foreign palate, and can be frozen ahead of time. The standard recipe does not call for kinako but I have had many many dorayaki with adapted fillings which could include a kinako custard.
posted by whatzit at 11:37 PM on November 10, 2013

Kinako tastes nutty, and is often paired with something sweet. When I was growing up, I would mix in some sugar and top my mochi with it. It is also extremely dry and absorbs moisture very quickly. Have a taste (I would add a bit of sugar)! Kuromitsu is a very traditional pairing.
posted by xmts at 12:24 PM on November 11, 2013

Response by poster: Thank you all!
I tried the powder before adding sugar and blech! I've already made the ice cream mixture and although it hasn't been churned yet, it still tastes delicious. I was surprised because it IS nutty but not like peanut butter, so hard to describe!
I'm thinking now of maybe doing a white chocolate caramel through it... or perhaps black sesame paste.
posted by picarosado at 1:43 PM on November 11, 2013