daifuku mochi

I'm obsessed with mochi. No really. Not overly sweet it comes in an amazing array of flavours and is gluten free, vegan perfection. I've had a bag of glutinous rice flour sitting in my cupboard for a YEAR and finally got around to it on the weekend. James and Matt finally pushed me over the edge a few months ago with their extensive post, I'm also clearing out all the ingredients I've been hoarding (I'm a serious hoarder) it was time, mochi time.

I'll be straight up and say I don't have a microwave which has always put me off but thanks to Chocolate and Zucchinis post with instructions for a steamer AND a rice cooker I was able to give it a go (there is talk elsewhere on the interwebs that mixing the dough with boiling water might be sufficient).

Ok so what I would do differently next time. Firstly I "scraped down the sides" of the rice cooker a little bit too much, I wouldn't touch it at all next time, it made the dough go a bit lumpy as you can see. Secondly I would take James and Matts advice and have a shaped, hard filling to wrap the mochi around. I had wet red bean paste and it was really difficult keeping it in. Other than that this was ridiculously easy. I doubled the recipe because I wanted a mountain of mochi.

ingredients from Chocolate and Zucchini - watch the video embedded in the post too

filling for your mochi, I used red bean paste - this you will have to experiment with (recipe says 240gms)
200 gms glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1 1/3 cup of water
potato starch or corn starch for dusting (A LOT)

method (for a rice cooker)
1. Put the flour, sugar and water in your rice cooker and stir to combine. Cook for about 10 minutes, mixture should be thick and slightly translucent.

2. On a baking sheet lay down a thick dusting of starch. When the dough is cooked pour it onto the starch , sprinkle with a load of starch and (with floured hands) pat out the dough to about 2cm thick (shit is STICKY and HOT so be careful).

3. Slice up as best you can into a grid making 6-9 squares (I dipped a chefs knife in potato starch each slice). Work quickly because the dough is easiest when hot, dust off the starch on the filling side, put your filling in the middle and bring up the sides squeezing them together. You can then roll them around in your palm a bit to get a more uniform look.

4. Once all the mochi is made leave to cool down for about an hour. Put all the potato starch into a container for your next batch and then store the mochis at room temp in an airtight container. NOM.