Mochi

What's mochi you ask? It is a Chinese snack made popular in Japan. Aside from finding mochi at Asian supermarkets, I have seen mochi bites at frozen yogurt places as one of the toppings. You can always try it with your fro-yo before you try to make it at home. It is essentially sweet rice flour with sugar and water and although it may sound simple, it can be just as complex as a cake or cookie. Inside the ball of flour, you can find some sort of filling. These filling varies from jellies, ice cream, pastes such as red or mung bean, or the classic peanut and coconut filling. If you have a weakness for chewy textured foods like myself, than this is the perfect little sweet treat for you! The key to the chewiness? The sweet rice flour, aka glutinous rice flour. This ingredient is used to make a lot of Chinese snacks. Some people are turned off by the chewy texture of mochi but I believe with some getting use to, these things can be addicting.



Mochi
compliments of my aunt

Ingredients
Dough
1 pound sweet rice flour (aka glutinous rice flour)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups water
potato starch for dusting

Ingredients
Filling
4 ounces toasted coconut
4 ounces toasted peanuts, very finely chopped
8 ounces granulated or powdered sugar

Directions
1. (for dough) Combine 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar in a small saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved
2. While sugar mixture is heating, mix flour with remaining 2 cups of cold water
3. Boil water in another pot to prepare your mochi for steaming
4. Take the hot sugar water mixture and pour into the flour mixture and stir until mixed together. Pour mixture into desired pan, I used a 9-in round cake pan and put in the steamer
5. Steam mochi on medium high heat for ~20 minutes. The mixture should look set and feel set but still pliable
6. Let mochi cool for about 10-15 minutes before handling. Lightly grease a spoon with cooking spray or oil because mochi will be sticky
7. To prepare filling, combine coconut, peanuts, and sugar together in a bowl

Directions for assembling mochi
1. Pour potato starch into a little dish
2. Used a greased spoon to scoop as much mochi as you need to achieve your desired mochi ball size and roll lightly in the potato starch. Do not use too much potato starch because it will be hard to seal the mochi later
3. Flatten the mochi out in your palms to about 1/4 inches thick
4. Scoop as much of the peanut filling that you want onto the center of flatten dough
5. Grab the ends of the dough and pinch the edges to seal the mochi
6. Place mochi in a cupcake holder or in a dish

Notes:
1. When assembling the mochi, make sure to cover mochi dough you are not working with to prevent it from drying out
2. Other fillings can be used instead of the peanut coconut filling: peanut and sesame seeds, ice cream, red bean paste, mung beans...you don't have to fill the inside with filling, you can roll the outside in peanuts or coconut
3. It is best to work with mochi while it is very warm to assure a smooth texture