How to make Pocky

Pocky is a Japanese sweet snack consisting of a biscuit stick coated in a sweet substance which is normally chocolate, but there are many other flavours available as I found out when I went to Japan.

I don't know about any other countries, but Pocky (marketed in Europe as Mikado) is very expensive and only the standard flavours are available in supermarkets with a box costing £1.40 which is a lot compared to the cost of other similar sweet treats. In Japan it is fairly readily available, but the craze is over as I only found a small range of flavours. In a frozen yoghurt shop I went to it was available as a topping.

As I love Pocky and hated the price and occasionally wished that there was more of a choice of flavours rather than just plain chocolate and white I decided to attempt to make it myself. I adapted this recipe to fit my specifications :http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/12/01/pocky-christmas-forest-white-christmas-dark-christmas-chili-chocolate-honeycomb-and-green-tea-pocky/

Interestingly it was the only one available at the time that I wanted to make it, but now there are lots online.

The recipe makes about 65 sticks, however it depends on the thickness of your sticks.

There are other ways to decorate the sticks besides the ones stated in the following tutorial. I have also tried using icing sugar, flavouring and water which worked well and I have also ground up sugary powdery sweets like Refreshers and Parma Violets and added icing sugar and water.

Tutorial:

Ingredients:

• 105g Strong White Bread Flour *
• 80g Plain Flour *
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt *
• 13g Icing/ Confectioner's sugar *
• 6g Dried or Fast Action Yeast
• 65ml Lukewarm milk
• 25g Honey
• Zest of 1/4 of an Orange
• 25g Unsalted butter/Margarine
• 60ml of Water

*= Dry ingredients

1.) Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl or in a food processor.

2.) In a small bowl, stir the yeast and the lukewarm milk together.

3.) Add the honey, milk and yeast to the dry ingredients and mix them together.

4.) Add the butter/margarine, zest and water to this mixture and stir to form a dough.

5.) Wrap the dough in plastic wrap (clingfilm) and refrigerate for the minimum of an hour.

6.) Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/ 180°C. Take the dough out of the fridge and knead until smooth. Roll it out so it is about 4mm thick.

7.) Cut the dough into strips with a sharp knife and roll them a little so they are pocky shaped rather than flat strips of dough. If the dough becomes too sticky, dust your work surface with a little flour.

8.) Place your pocky sticks on a greaseproof papered baking tray and put in the oven. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until brown. As always, cooking times will vary, in this case due to the thickness of the sticks. If they are light coloured they will be too soft and will not snap properly. 

10.) Decorating time!

Melt the chocolate that you are using in a heatproof bowl above a saucepan of boiling water (bain marie). Use a spoon to coat the pocky sticks with chocolate.

11.) Sprinkle your pocky with some cake decorations. Anything will work as long as it is light and small. Leave the decorated pocky in the fridge for an hour to cool and harden the chocolate.

12.) After an hour has passed they are fit for consumption (if you don't mind making a mess when you eat don't bother with waiting.)