Hina arare (Girls' Day rice puffs)

Step 1: Rinse 10 ½ oz cooked short-grain rice in a sieve to wash off the starch, then spread it thinly on a baking tray lined with paper. Dry in the oven at 200°F (fan 176°F) for about 1 hour, stirring halfway, until the grains are hard, translucent and separate like dry rice from a packet.

Step 2: Heat 2 cups vegetable oil in a small deep pan to 375°F, or until a grain dropped in puffs within 2 seconds. Fry the dried rice a small handful at a time in a fine sieve lowered into the oil, for 5–10 seconds, until puffed and pale. Lift out and drain on kitchen paper. Keep children well back from the hot oil.

Step 3: Split the puffs into four bowls. Simmer 2 ⅛ oz caster sugar and 2 tbsp water in a small pan for 1 minute until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup looks clear. Stir 1 tsp beetroot juice into a third of the syrup and ½ tsp matcha powder into another third.

Step 4: Toss one bowl of puffs in the pink syrup, one in the green and one in the plain, a teaspoon at a time so they are just glazed, not soggy. The usual mistake is pouring in all the syrup at once, which makes clumps.

Step 5: Warm 1 tbsp soy sauce with 1 tsp caster sugar in the pan for 30 seconds until it bubbles, then toss the last bowl of puffs in it.

Step 6: Spread all four colours on lined trays and dry in the oven at 200°F for 10–15 minutes, until crisp and no longer sticky to touch. Cool, mix and store in an airtight jar for up to a week.