Basic Nerikiri (Bean Paste and Rice Dough)

["Microwave the shiro-an for 1 minute at the highest setting.", "Tear the gyuuhi into small pieces and knead into the shiro-an with a spoon while mashing the pieces.", "Microwave for another 30 seconds.", "When the mixture is smooth, cool it down completely.", "The basic nerikiri is done when it doesn't stick to your fingers when you pinch it.", "If it's too soft and sticky, repeat Step 2.", "You can color the nerikiri by adding drops of food coloring and kneading it in until the dough is evenly colored.", "I divided the dough into 3 portions, and colored one pink and another one green.", "To make a nerikiri plum flower: Divide the light red (pink) and white balls of dough in half.", "Wrap the pink dough around the white dough, using more pink dough than white as shown here.", "When the pink dough is wrapped around the white dough, roll the ball in your hands until the seam disappears.", "It's OK if the white dough shows through a bit.", "Mark the top and sides of the dough with a spoon.", "If you can get the white dough to show through a bit, it will have a gradated effect and will be very pretty.", "This is user ""Risunoshippo""'s creation, hedgehogs.", "She colored the nerikiri with cocoa powder and cinnamon powder, and made the needles with scissors!", "So cute."]