Mochi

I went grocery shopping at the Asian store the other day with my son Chad and he picked up a little package of miniature Mochi balls. I thought I could get away with just eating a few but it only made my craving larger.  I remembered these little morsels from my school days learning graphic design. We had about 5 Japanese foreign exchange students in our classes and the girls would share these snacks as well as the recipes with the rest of us. 


Since I was still craving these I went home and made much larger ones; plain with red bean filling, pandan with red bean & yellow mung bean filling and durian with mung bean filling; to gobble up. Mochi is basically sweetened glutinous rice flour made into a dough and filled with a variety of sweet treats like candied wintermelon, chocolate truffles and sometimes ice cream. Here's a simple recipe for bean filled Mochi.


Ingredients (makes 30 balls and 3 flavors):

1 box of Mochiko or bag of glutinous rice flour 
1/3 cup, plus 1 tablespoon of sugar
1 can of coconut milk
1/4 cup of water
2 teaspoons each of extract or flavoring (optional), can use almond, pandan, durian, green tea, coffee etc. I used pandan in one batch and durian on another and plain for my third. 
1 package sweetened red mung beans (good with the plain and pandan flavored balls)
tapioca starch or corn starch for dusting
1 package sweetened yellow mung bean (good with the pandan and durian flavor balls)
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1 teaspoon candied ginger, minced (optional)


Directions for filling:

1. Prepare the red bean filling by rolling the red bean into small balls with your hands. Place on plate. Prepare the yellow mung bean filling by adding the coconut flakes, candied ginger and mixing. Roll into balls and place onto plate. Refridgerate or place in freeze while preparing the dough. It's important to keep the balls cold so they are easier to handle when assembling the mochi. See figure 1. 

Directions for Mochi & Assembly:

1. Place the Mochiko flour or glutinous rice flour in a medium sized bowl. Add the coconut milk, sugar and mix well by hand. If you are making more then one flavor, after mixing, divide the mixture by pouring into separate bowls (I made 3 kinds, thus used 3 bowls). 
2. Add the  extract/flavoring each bowl and mix until there aren't any lumps.
3. Get the steamer ready. 
4. Cover each bowl with saran wrap and put one bowl inside the steamer. You'll have to steam each bowl separately. Steam for about 25 minutes.
5. Dust a clean work surface with 1/2 cup of starch. Remove the hot mochi from the steamer and place the other flavored mochi bowl into steamer. While the 2nd batch steams you'll fill the 1st batch.
6. Remove the mochi from bowl and transfer onto the dusted work surface. The mochi is hot.  Dust hands and the lump of mochi with more starch and gently form into a ball. The mochi is sticky and the starch will help transform it into a workable dough. Divide the mochi into 10 balls.
7. Using the palm of your hands, flatten the balls and make a round mochi. Remove the filling from the fridge/freezer and place a piece of filling on the mochi and wrap, pinching the seam. Seal the seam by gently rolling the ball in your hands. Repeat the process until the remaining 9 balls are filled. Repeat the steaming and rolling process until all flavors are completed. If you want to store these, I suggest wrapping these individually in plastic wrap to avoid condensation from the refrigerator. 

Mochi Cake and Durian?. . .Yes please!

I'm calling this cake by it's Japanese name "Mochi" because I can't remember what the Vietnamese name for it is. I'm not sure who invented this glutinous dessert first and I really don't care, I'm just glad someone did! This is very similar to the Filipino  "Cassava Cake" but instead of Cassava the Vietnamese and Japanese use glutinous rice flour. With these types of cakes, it's all about the chewy texture and crispy edges. If you've had Mochi Ice cream you'll understand what I mean. This cake is not at all like it's European, North American counterpart. . . .if you like Mochi you like it, if you don't you don't. And to throw in another element like Durian fruit, well. . .you love it or you hate it. It certainly is a flavor worth trying but many are repelled by the smell of the fruit. I like both the creamy texture and taste. :) 

You could certainly forgo the Durian fruit and substitute it with banana or make the pandan recipe. I've seen this also made with fresh blueberries but haven't tried it myself. Many recipes omit fruit all together, but for those who love both Durian and Mochi, here is my mother's recipe. 

Ingredients:

1 pound mochiko (glutinous rice flour)
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can coconut Milk
1 can evaporated Milk
1/2 cup water or milk
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
1 cup steamed yellow mung bean
1 cup durian fruit, de-pitted

Directions: 

1. If you can't find pre-steamed mung beans at the International grocers, buy dried yellow mung beans. Take about 1/2 cup dried yellow mung bean and steam in rice cooker or over stove. They will double in size when cooked. Approximately 20 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. 
3. In a medium mixing bowl, add the eggs, vanilla, coconut and evaporated milks and mix. Add baking powder, sugar, milk(or water), vanilla and whisk. Slowly mix in the rice flour, steamed mung bean and durian fruit. 
4. Pour into prepared pan and on middle rack of preheated oven. 
5. Bake for 1 hour. Cool for about 30 minutes. Cut into squares. This is best eaten warm. You can store this by wrapping in plastic wrap, but before eating, reheat the square in the microwave for about 20 to 25 seconds.