Mochi Fantasy

Image of Two Ladies Strawberry Mochi from the blog Big Island Grinds.

I may have mentioned my obession with Mochi in a different post. Last year when we were married we purchased a beautiful tray of these artfully prepared cakes from the Two Ladies Kitchen in Hilo for our wedding in lieu of a traditional wedding cake. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the result. If you’re ever on the Big Island and driving through Hilo I do suggest that you make a stop there. It’s an unassuming little shop where the locals and probably tourists line outside the door to purchase their packaged treats.

For the lay person: Mochi is a rice cake. Sometimes there are simple mochi which are just plain rice cakees which can be baked in an oven. When baked the mochi cakes puff up. Mochi comes in more decorative and festive forms including daifuku mochi (see image) which are usually filled with some sweet filling such as red bean (Koshi-an) or white bean (Shiro-an) paste. The Two Ladies actually made a mochi out of one of my favorite Asian foods, Purple Yam (known as Ube in the Phillipines). Actually, at one point I’d fantasized about having my wedding cake made out of Ube, the shocking purple hue of the cake would be a sight to see. In addition to the Ube and Strawberry Mochi, my favorite Two Ladies mochi flavors are: Passionfruit, White Chocolate and Peanut Butter, Plum, and Green Tea

As I write about this now and I continue the fantasy of having really good fresh mochi. I did try to make it myself; however it was so messy I don’t think I’ll do it again anytime soon. I took a green tea mochi recipe and I used strongly brewed apricot tea as the liquid. The cakes themselves were tasty, but the labor required to make and clean up discourages me from making this again until I get a microwave and can make the microwave version. Despite the effort involved in making them, I will forever be infatuated with mochi because after all they’re adorable looking. Small packages of aesthetically pleasing and delicous cuteness.

Tray of Daifuku Mochi and Manju*

After doing a search online for pictures (looking for mochi-porn), I found a rather terrific post on Japanese Cake Molds. Though it sounds like the cakes produced in these beautiful molds are more sugar than pounded rice dough.

http://www.pingmag.jp/2006/03/28/japanese-cake-mold/

 

Japanese Cake Mold

Links:

• Map to Two Ladies Kitchen in Hilo
• Recipe for Mochi Daifuku

*Manju = baked cakes not always made of rice flour which are filled with sweet fillings such as redbean or adzuki paste called koshi-an

Butter Mochi

This dessert is also know to Filipinos as bibingka… and it’s not fat free. If you want to feel a little better you could use low-fat coconut milk. Cut into smaller squares and eat sparingly or wrap the squares individually and give as gifts. Just like brownies the edges are wonderful. You have this combination of a buttery crust and a chewy center.

• 1 lb. box of Mochiko sweet rice flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 c. unrefined cane sugar
• 3 eggs beaten
• 2 sticks of butter (1 c.) melted
• 1 can coconut milk (low fat can be substituted)
• 1/2 c. evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Grease a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish with the butter wrappers.  Set aside beat the sugar into the eggs and beat until well combined. Stir in the remaining liquid ingredients, making sure to combine the ingredients well. Gradually add the rice flour mixture and combine until absolutely no lumps form.  Mix in the vanilla extract. Pour the ingredients into the greased baking dish and spread it evenly with a greased spatula.  Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the cake is a golden brown. Sprinkle the shredded coconut over the top of the bibingka. Return to the oven and bake for about 10 more minutes or until the coconut also reaches a nice golden brown.  Let sit in the pan on a rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. With a sharp knife cut the mochi into tiny squares.

I like having mine with a bit of brown rice tea.

Sticky Rice Cookies

I’ve been looking desperately for a recipe for the sweet white rice cakes (I’m assuming they’re steamed) that you can get at Dim Sum.

My search is leading me to a number of different recipes:

I will post links to these recipes here and come back to tell you which ones we end up trying and the result.

Sticky Rice Cookies: http://asiancemagazine.com/200612/holiday_ingredient_glutinous_rice_flour

Great list of Asian recipes (with photos): http://www.xanga.com/CantoneseCooking