Koinobori (Carp Streamer) Rice Flour Cookies
鯉のぼり米粉クッキー · Koinobori Komeko Cookie
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Koinobori are the carp-shaped streamers that fly outside Japanese homes in the run-up to Children's Day on May 5, a wish for children to grow up strong and healthy. These little fish-shaped cookies bring that festive feeling to snack time: rice flour and kinako (roasted soybean flour) give them a gentle, nutty sweetness, and sweetened soy milk and oil stand in for butter and egg, so they are naturally free of egg, dairy and wheat. Children love pressing in the eyes and scales with a drinking straw, so it's a lovely one to make together in the kitchen.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Seasonings
- 10.8 gsweetened soy milk (Japanese chosei tonyu)Japanese 'prepared' soy milk that is lightly sweetened and flavored to taste milder than plain soy milk. Substitute: Regular (original, lightly sweetened) soy milk from the supermarket.
- 9 gsugar
- 7.2 gvegetable oil
Ingredients
- 10.8 gkinako (roasted soybean flour)A nutty, lightly sweet powder made from roasted ground soybeans, often dusted over mochi or rice. Substitute: No close substitute - look for kinako (sometimes sold as roasted soybean flour) at a Japanese or Asian grocery, or online.
- 18 grice flour
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- sweetened soy milk (Japanese chosei tonyu) (調製豆乳)
- Japanese 'prepared' soy milk that is lightly sweetened and flavored to taste milder than plain soy milk. Substitute: Regular (original, lightly sweetened) soy milk from the supermarket.
- kinako (roasted soybean flour) (きな粉)
- A nutty, lightly sweet powder made from roasted ground soybeans, often dusted over mochi or rice. Substitute: No close substitute - look for kinako (sometimes sold as roasted soybean flour) at a Japanese or Asian grocery, or online.
Directions
- 1
Put the soy milk and sugar in a bowl and mix well until the sugar dissolves. Add the oil, and once it is fully blended in, add the kinako and mix again.
- 2
Add the rice flour and mix with a rubber spatula until no dry flour remains. Knead by hand and bring the dough together into one ball.
- 3
Roll out the dough and cut it into rectangles with a knife (dust with a little rice flour if the dough sticks). Cut a triangle out of one short end of each rectangle so it looks like a fish tail.
- 4
Arrange the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Punch out an eye on each with a drinking straw, then press the straw into the dough to make the scales.
- 5
Bake in an oven preheated to 160°C (320°F) for about 20 minutes.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 217.5 kcal | 435 kcal | 217.5 kcal |
| Protein | 5.3 g | 10.5 g | 5.3 g |
| Fat | 10.6 g | 21.3 g | 10.6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 27.3 g | 54.6 g | 27.3 g |
| Fiber | 2.3 g | 4.5 g | 2.3 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g |
| Calcium | 25.5 mg | 51 mg | 25.5 mg |
| Iron | 1 mg | 2.1 mg | 1 mg |
| Potassium | 241.5 mg | 483 mg | 241.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 217.5 kcal | 5.3 g | 10.6 g | 27.3 g | 2.3 g | 0 g | 25.5 mg | 1 mg | 241.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 435 kcal | 10.5 g | 21.3 g | 54.6 g | 4.5 g | 0 g | 51 mg | 2.1 mg | 483 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
