Mochi (餅)

 

In the Far East there are no typical sweets that we taste in the West. Creams, butter and other ingredients derived from milk are conspicuous by their absence because, among other reasons, most Orientals are lactose intolerant. That does not mean that they do not eat sweet products, although the order in which they eat them is not usually the usual one in the West. Thus, in China, all dishes are served at the same time and it is the diner who decides when to take the sweet or the salty, when not simply take alternate bites of them.

Mochi is a type of dough with a gummy consistency that can be both sweet and salty. In this case we are going to make sweets with it. The elastic consistency is achieved by using a special type of rice that once boiled is crushed - literally - into a paste suitable for making sweet or savory foods. As this process is slow and complex, those who use mochi usually buy the flour already dried.

Finding the rice flour that is used to make mochi can be difficult outside of establishments specialized in oriental food so I have used normal rice flour that can be found in any supermarket.  You can use this rice also to make the bread of rice we have seen in the previous post.

The result of doing mochi using a standard rice flour has been more than acceptable.

INGREDIENTS :

• 150 grams (1 cup) of rice flour
• 400 grams (2 cups) of sugar
• 180 ml of water (slightly less than a cup)
• Cornmeal

In a bowl that can go to the fire - preferably glass or ceramic - we mix the rice flour with the water. We mix well and if it is too dry we add water (a tablespoon at a time, since if we put too much and it is too liquid it will not do at all).

Now we are going to fill a saucepan with water to cook the resulting pasta in a double boiler. To do this we introduce the container where we have mixed water and flour in the water and cover it with a lid. With 20 minutes of cooking it will be enough.

Next we dump the contents of the container in another saucepan over low-medium heat. We add 150 grams of sugar (3/4 cup) and we work well so that it dissolves in the dough. Without stopping stirring we add another 150 grams (3/4 cup) and when they have dissolved again we add the remaining 100 grams (half a cup). After mixing all the sugar, the dough will remain with the consistency of a somewhat liquid and quite sticky marzipan. It is time to work it.

We pour the dough on the kitchen table that we have previously covered with cornmeal. It is convenient that you rub the palms of your hands with corn flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers. You flatten the dough and remove a piece the size of a fist. You work it so that it wraps whatever filling you want. The Japanese usually put sweet red beans (anko) but if that seems too radical, you can fill the center with jam of any kind, pieces of fruit, ice cream of any kind, etc. The diner will be surprised by the texture of the mochi and the flavor it contains inside.

A more than recommended and surprising sweet.