I have not found a source in Denver for fresh mochi. So I made my own!
I’ll consider this attempt and experiment. The results will not convert anyone to loving mochi. But I think I can improve upon it.
I used a combination of these two recipes.
- Boil 1 cup water with 1/4 cup sugar
- Add 3 drops red food coloring (which was too much, see below)
- Dump in 1 cup mochiko flour
- Stir like crazy
- Dump onto prepared cutting board (potato starch all over it)
- Tear off pieces, pinch around filling, roll in starch
It took minutes to make! So easy, so tempting to try again already.
I used canned An (sweetened red bean paste) and froze it to make portioning and wrapping easier. Apparently Jack will eat spoonful after spoonful of An. Weirdo.
However, I’m glad I waited until nap time to make this. The dough is warm-to-hot and you have to work fast. Also, with no baking step, it’s extra important that no dirty little hands get in the dough.
I got the ingredients at Viet-Hoa, an Asian grocery store on Alameda.
Next time:
- Less food coloring. 1-2 drops is plenty.
- Flavor the dough. I wonder how they make strawberry in the bakery?
- Figure out the best filling to wrap ratio.
- Vary the filling. Chocolate? Nutella? Fruit? Maybe use these instructions with pistachios?
I had a friend in high school with a mochi machine. You'd pour rice and stuff in and it'd make it for you. It looked a lot like a bread maker actually.