I’m sure you’ve seen this all over Instagram and viral articles. Known as the Raindrop Cake in western countries, this thing that looks like a drop of water and is just so delicate and mystical. It looks simple yet complex. I’ve never seen it in real life before and never got to try it, so I had no clue what it should taste like. For the longest time I couldn’t guess how it got it’s shape and honestly thought it was formed by dripping a huge drop because I assumed this stuff was sticky. Then recently, I did the most logical thing – check YouTube for recipes and I finally understood that it’s actually made of agar agar (not sticky at all) and is moulded using round moulds. The process of making this is actually the easiest and least messy of all wagashi I’ve tried to date!
As for the texture – I love it. It is essentially all water, and it is as refreshing as cold water gets. The slight jelly texture makes it a perfect treat on a hot summer day (yes, that means everyday in Singapore). We already know that kuromitsu* and kinako is a perfect match, so flavour imparted from these toppings on the very refreshing Mizu Shingen Mochi is just impeccable. I love it.
*Make kuromitsu ahead of time, recipe available here.
Mizu Shingen Mochi
500ml of water
1g of agar agar
20g of sugar
Toppings:
Kinako
Kuromitsu
Check out this post to find out where to get the ingredients.
Equipment:
Spherical or half dome moulds (I used small bowls with round surface)
Method:
- Over the stove, bring sugar and water to a boil.
- When sugar has completely dissolved, sprinkle in the agar agar powder and mix to dissolve completely.
- Pour mixture into moulds and let it set.
- When Mizu Shingen Mochi is ready, unmould onto a plate and serve immediately with kuromitsu and kinako.
Things to note
- You got to play around with your ratio of water : agar agar. It is not that straightforward because the difference in ratio can be quite obvious in the final texture. You want it to be very wobbly and as clear as it can be. Basically, you want the lowest amount of agar agar possible to just set the water.
- I redid this FIVE times before I was satisfied! Do not waste anything – simply throw it back to the pot, add more water, and bring to a boil again to melt and remould. You do not have to bother about the sugar amount because the Mizu Shingen Mochi is supposed to be relatively tasteless and flavour comes from the toppings.
- Agar agar can set at room temperature, in the fridge it will set super quickly. I love how this stuff is fuss free.
- The thicker you mould it to be, the more cloudy it will appear. So I suggest using smaller moulds! I didn’t have moulds so I used the roundest small bowls I could find, but it was still quite big with a diameter of around 8 cm or so. It’ll be better if you find something around 5 cm, so you could have a shorter half dome and it will appear clearer. The very first picture was one which I filled up the bowl only halfway, so it was a lot flatter and was clearer.
Hungry Bird 