Vegetable Pocky Sticks (Carrot Biscuit Sticks)
野菜ポッキー · Yasai Pocky
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Pocky, the slim biscuit stick beloved in Japan, gets a preschool-kitchen makeover here: steamed carrot is blended into the dough, so each stick carries a gentle sweetness and a warm orange color without any food coloring. Ground white sesame adds a nutty, toasty note that kids find hard to resist. The dough comes together in one bowl with no egg or dairy, and the sticks are just the right size for small hands to hold and nibble. They crisp up as they cool, which makes them a simple, crunchy afternoon snack.
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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.
Ingredients
- 15 gcarrot
- 24 gflour
- 6 gpotato starch (katakuriko)Japanese potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating fried foods. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness.
- 4.5 gground white sesame seeds
Seasonings
- 0.2 gsalt
- 7.5 gsugar
- 6 gvegetable oil
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- potato starch (katakuriko) (かたくり粉)
- Japanese potato starch used for thickening sauces and coating fried foods. Substitute: Cornstarch: start with the same amount and add a little more if it is still thin. It thickens a little less than potato starch and needs a couple of minutes at a gentle bubble to reach full thickness. Read the guide: Katakuriko (Japanese Potato Starch) and What to Use Instead → Guide: japanese-school-lunch.com/articles/katakuriko-potato-starch/
Directions
- 1
Cut the carrot into rounds, place in a heat-safe bowl and add 1 tbsp of water (not included in the ingredient amounts). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and microwave at 1200W for about 1 minute 30 seconds. Blend in a food processor to a smooth paste.
- 2
Whisk the flour and potato starch together, then add the carrot paste from step 1, the ground white sesame seeds, salt, sugar and vegetable oil. Knead until it comes together into one ball of dough.
- 3
Roll the dough out flat and cut it with a knife into thin strips about 5 mm wide and 5 cm long.
- 4
Arrange the strips on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F) for about 10 minutes.
The sticks turn crisp as they cool.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 220.5 kcal | 441 kcal | 220.5 kcal |
| Protein | 3 g | 6 g | 3 g |
| Fat | 8.7 g | 17.4 g | 8.7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 32.8 g | 65.7 g | 32.8 g |
| Fiber | 1.7 g | 3.3 g | 1.7 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.2 g | 0.3 g | 0.2 g |
| Calcium | 63 mg | 126 mg | 63 mg |
| Iron | 0.6 mg | 1.2 mg | 0.6 mg |
| Potassium | 91.5 mg | 183 mg | 91.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 220.5 kcal | 3 g | 8.7 g | 32.8 g | 1.7 g | 0.2 g | 63 mg | 0.6 mg | 91.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 441 kcal | 6 g | 17.4 g | 65.7 g | 3.3 g | 0.3 g | 126 mg | 1.2 mg | 183 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.
