129 replies to this topic

[chibirisu]

If you are so serious about the texture, why not make mochi from mochi rice, using a mochi making machine, and mochi sweets from mochiko, like we usually do in Japan?

Because I have a feeling that the people in the club are getting their terminology mixed up! ^^;; A lot of mochi-sweets are sold in the US just identified as "mochi," including some stuffed with ice cream and frozen, and so when someone uses the word "mochi" the things people think of can be wildly different.

Some of them may be thinking of New Year's mochi, but I suspect most of the group is thinking of daifuku or the ice-cream-containing frozen ones, because those are the type seen most frequently around here. Although everyone's enthusiastic about having "mochi", I need to figure out for sure whether the group is wanting "pure" mochi or "sweets" mochi before I start making them, and I have a sinking feeling their answer is going to be "we want all of 'em of course!" which would mean a whole lot more work than even the amount of work involved in making any one type of mochi for a hundred people.

So if the machine made something I could use for both types, then I wouldn't have to worry about the "dough," so to speak. But if most people in the club are thinking of sweets and the machine doesn't make the right type of mochi for sweets, then I should stick with the mochiko... I think I need more information on both ends really...

Thank you for the links! Yeah, I can read Japanese, though slowly and often with the help of a kanji dictionary... must look them over!

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

When the temple my family attends does their yearly mochitsuki, they make both the plain mochi (the special ones for butsudan and the kind for eating) and a basic daifuku style stuffed with typical red anko or the white an. I didn't know that daifuku had a separate name until I started reading here.

Edited by MomOfLittleFoodies, 04 November 2005 - 10:30 PM.

[chibirisu]

When the temple my family attends does their yearly mochitsuki, they make both the plain mochi (the special ones for butsudan and the kind for eating) and a basic daifuku style stuffed with typical red anko or the white an. I didn't know that daifuku had a separate name until I started reading here.

So you use pounded mochigome rather than mochiko and end up with daifuku? What's it like to handle? / is it easier or harder to shape? (I've never had the chance to work with real pounded mochigome before...)

[torakris]

We had the first mochi of the season, with kinako (roasted soy bean powder)

[chibirisu]

I have invented something INSANELY good. Mayan hot chocolate daifuku mochi.

It's not very traditional, of course, but Torakris mentioned liking cafe au lait mochi, and I'm allergic to something in coffee, so it got me started thinking about hot chocolate mochi, and Mayan-style -- with cinnamon and nuts -- is one of my other addictions, and hey if you can do ice cream mochi, surely the other end of the temperature scale is doable too, right? Anyway... YUM.

Based on Konny's ichigo daifuku recipe online, but adjusted to taste... I cut down the sugar some, and I don't usually have a scale around so I worked with cups instead...

Makes about a dozen.

1 cup mochiko
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups water, separated
1 tsp almond extract
3/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Semisweet chocolate chips
Mochiko, cocoa powder and sugar mix for rolling them in
A Silpat and heat-proof spatulas are your friend here.

Microwave 1/4 cup water for about a minute, then add 1/4 cup sugar and stir. Microwave for another 45 seconds. Add another 1/4 cup sugar, stir, microwave another 45 seconds. Add the last 1/4 cup sugar, stir, microwave 45 seconds. (It should be bubbling at this point.) With a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the almond extract and cinnamon. Don't freak out when it crystallizes like mad; just mix it together until it's the color of fudge and set it aside.

Mix together a cup of mochiko and a cup of water and a pinch of salt in a microwavable bowl. Cover with saran wrap, microwave a minute and stir; repeat until it starts getting puffy (about 5 minutes). Rewarm the sugar syrup for about 20 seconds (because it's probably set up into a solid mass while the mochi is being microwaved), then pour the syrup over the mochi and stir like mad for a long time until it's turned smooth and brown-sugar-colored again. (It'll look like a gloppy mess at first but it does mix up fine... just keep at it. Have discovered a heat-proof silicon spatula is REALLY your friend when mixing mochi.)

Scatter the cocoa-mochiko-sugar mix all over your Silpat or whatever you're using for a catcher. Pour the mochi-napalm over the mix. Scatter more coca-mochiko-sugar on top and put a piece of Saran wrap over it and roll it flatter to cool (take the Saran wrap off when done, it's just there to keep the mochi-napalm from adhering to your hands and burning you).

When it's cool enough to handle, cut or tear off bits and make thin palm-sized disks out of the mochiko. (If you cut them in rectangular shapes, you can get little mochi pillows instead of balls, and they're a bit easier to handle.) Either way, put some chocolate chips in the center and pinch the edges closed and roll into a ball shape and then re-roll in the cocoa-flour-etc mix. (Stop and reroll everything whenever anything starts sticking, actually.)

When you're done, put them in a pile on a small plate and put them back in the microwave for two or three 15-second shots. The chocolate melts in the center but doesn't get scalding, and you bite into this oozing chocolate center...

It's a good thing I could get those out of my apartment and unload 'em on the club kids, 'cause otherwise I would've eaten 'em all!

Edited by chibirisu, 12 November 2005 - 02:05 PM.

[RosalindD]

Can anyone tell me how long Mochiko keeps? Thank you

[mochihead]

Can anyone tell me how long Mochiko keeps?  Thank you

It will keep like any other grains/flours that you have around the house. You want to be careful of bugs and critters if you keep it in your cupboards - whether open or unopened. You can avoid the bugs by putting it in the freezer. We've kept it for several months in the freezer, unopened. (We make a ton of mochi throughout the year, so always have at least 8 boxes in the freezer at any given time.)

[torakris]

Like mochihead said, it will keep about the same as other flours.
I keep mine in the cupboard and have often had it in there for over a year before I use it all. If you live in a warmer climate though I would definitely suggest the refrigerator/freezer though.

[torakris]

isobe mochi (brushed with soy sauce and wrapped in nori) in a cup



this was lunch yesterday along with a daifuku

[mochihead]

Here's the new year mochi. Green Tea & plain, filled with tsubushian. Process

[Hiroyuki]

According to today's Yomiuri Shimbun, at least seven people, all elderly, died choking on mochi in the Kanto area alone. In Japan, everyone knows this risk, but these fatal accidents are repeated each year...

[torakris]

We visited my husabnd's grandmother during the Golden Week holidays and were sent home with a couple packages of the local dangos.

[SheenaGreena]

I grew up eating homemade mochi, but it was Korean style mochi...not japanese

are korean and japanese sweet mochi similar? I remember as a child, my mother used to make mochi stuffed with sweet red beans and roll them in cornstarch (?).

I absolutely love the stuff, I remember when I was little I used to squeeze out the fillings of the mochi and throw them in the trash and just eat the mochi itself.

Is it difficult to make the stuff homemade? My mother has a homemade mochi maker that pounds the rice for you electronically. She hasn't used it in like 10 years though

[nagitokyo]

I am not a professional about Korean cuisine, but I've hardly seen stuffed Korean mochi. It seems they use a lot and variety of toppings compared to Japanese mochi.

You can check the variety of Korean mochi in the following site.
http://www.east-01.c...po_kr/kr-71.htm

And I think Japanese mochi is more sticky and Korean sweet mochi is soft as marshmallow.

Same as SheenaGreena-san's home, we made mochi at home especially before oshogatsu(new year's day) and in spring(the season of Yomogi) Usually our relatives gathered biggest room in my grandma's house and made tons of mochi(both plain and anko stuffed ones) in cooperation.

As I was a little girl and main role was tasting(ahaha), I don't know the difficulty, but every one of my relatives could make stuffed mochi. So I guess it's not so difficult for elder generation to make them.

[SheenaGreena]

nagitokyo, I loved the link by the way...thanks

it brought back alot of memories. I especially loved the mochi coated in the powdery tan stuff. I think the coating is either mung bean or roasted soy bean powder

In japan, do you pound your mochi traditionally or do you use an electric machine?

[Hiroyuki]

In japan, do you pound your mochi traditionally or do you use an electric machine?

Making mochi the traditional way, with a kine and a usu, has become quite rare even in rural areas like mine, but it's still popular at some events, fair, and festivals.

[GlorifiedRice]

About the American brown rice mochi from Grainaissance?
They suggest putting it in a WAFFLE IRON and making waffles.
They also have a CHOCOLATE FUDGE BROWNIE flavor.
Whole Foods Market sells it.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

About the American brown rice mochi from Grainaissance?
They suggest putting it in a WAFFLE IRON and making waffles.
They also have a CHOCOLATE FUDGE BROWNIE flavor.
Whole Foods Market sells it.

This product is actually quite popular with people with wheat allergies or celiac disease here in the US.

It's a completely different creature from the Japanese mochi I'm accustomed to. You have to bake or grill the Grainaissance stuff for it to be edible. It's closer to the shelf stable mochi that you buy in blocks... definitely not fresh.

I tried it once, and didn't much care for the texture.

[torakris]

Please be careful with that mochi!
mochi deaths for New Years 2007

[miladyinsanity]

I absolutely love the stuff, I remember when I was little I used to squeeze out the fillings of the mochi and throw them in the trash and just eat the mochi itself. 

Sheena, you're a girl after my own heart! That's exactly what I would have done too.

I have a recipe for the Korean style mochi that can be made in the microwave if you want it.

Now, Dango.

I loooooove dango.

Can I make it at home myself? I'm talking about the little round balls of dough that they sell on skewers, in case dango means more than one thing. And it's sometimes grilled and rolled in sesame seeds, kinako or dipped in soy sauce.

I think it's what Torakris posted on the previous page?

[miladyinsanity]

I finally found the time to go dig for dango recipes.

But some of them ask for rice flour, and others for glutinous rice flour. Are they two different recipes, or is that one correct one and one wrong one?

Thanks in advance!

[JasonTrue]

There are probably more recipes for dango than dango-makers.

OK, that's perhaps an exaggeration. But I've had them made from rice flour, pounded rice, glutinous rice, joshinko, with and without yomogi, with various kinds of sauces such as mitarashi dango, or dusted with kinako, or almost plain, sometimes with nori. At home I've made them with a dough including nagaimo and snuck them into suimono.

I must have them all!

I finally found the time to go dig for dango recipes.

But some of them ask for rice flour, and others for glutinous rice flour. Are they two different recipes, or is that one correct one and one wrong one?

Thanks in advance!

[miladyinsanity]

There are probably more recipes for dango than dango-makers.

OK, that's perhaps an exaggeration. But I've had them made from rice flour, pounded rice, glutinous rice, joshinko, with and without yomogi, with various kinds of sauces such as mitarashi dango, or dusted with kinako, or almost plain, sometimes with nori. At home I've made them with a dough including nagaimo and snuck them into suimono.

I must have them all!

I finally found the time to go dig for dango recipes.

But some of them ask for rice flour, and others for glutinous rice flour. Are they two different recipes, or is that one correct one and one wrong one?

Thanks in advance!

Maybe it would have helped if I had thought to specify what I'm looking for.

I usually buy the one (sometimes from Minamoto Kitchoan) that comes 3 on a stick, and each one's a different color, green, white and pink.

Does that help? And is yomogi mugwort?

And I might be crazy enough to grind sesame seeds by hand, but I'm not going to pound rice.

[sanrensho]

And I might be crazy enough to grind sesame seeds by hand, but I'm not going to pound rice.

You can also make mochi in a breadmaker (after steaming the sticky rice).

You should be able to find rice flour for making dango at a Japanese grocer.

Yes, yomogi is mugwort. We have a few plants in the yard, but I have yet to make anything with it.

Edited by sanrensho, 13 March 2007 - 02:07 PM.

[Hiroyuki]

There are probably more recipes for dango than dango-makers.

OK, that's perhaps an exaggeration. But I've had them made from rice flour, pounded rice, glutinous rice, joshinko, with and without yomogi, with various kinds of sauces such as mitarashi dango, or dusted with kinako, or almost plain, sometimes with nori. At home I've made them with a dough including nagaimo and snuck them into suimono.

I must have them all!

I finally found the time to go dig for dango recipes.

But some of them ask for rice flour, and others for glutinous rice flour. Are they two different recipes, or is that one correct one and one wrong one?

Thanks in advance!

Maybe it would have helped if I had thought to specify what I'm looking for.

I usually buy the one (sometimes from Minamoto Kitchoan) that comes 3 on a stick, and each one's a different color, green, white and pink.

Does that help? And is yomogi mugwort?

And I might be crazy enough to grind sesame seeds by hand, but I'm not going to pound rice.

So, you mean sanshoku (3-color) dango like this? I did some googling and found they are usually made with joshinko (rice flour). You can make them with shiratamako (a type of mochi rice flour), but the texture is different.

[Domestic Goddess]

so do you any of you pound it old school in one of those huge mortar and pestles that are about 3 feet tall?  I got to use one when I was very little.

This has been discussed before. Making mochi from scratch has become rare even in rural areas like mine, but mochi pounding is a popular event at some fairs and festivals.

This made me realize I have a picture of the mochi pounding taken last early winter when we went to Ilsan City for a holiday.

[Hiroyuki]

so do you any of you pound it old school in one of those huge mortar and pestles that are about 3 feet tall?  I got to use one when I was very little.

This has been discussed before. Making mochi from scratch has become rare even in rural areas like mine, but mochi pounding is a popular event at some fairs and festivals.

This made me realize I have a picture of the mochi pounding taken last early winter when we went to Ilsan City for a holiday.

How different!!
I posted two photos of mochi pounding here. Scroll all the way down to the second and third photos from the last.

Sheena, I have no idea, but I found one webpage that says the 3-color dango represents cherry. The pink one represents the bud, the white one the petal, and the green one the leaf. I can't be sure whether this interpretation is universal throughout Japan.

●桜を意味する三色だんご。ピンクは桜のつぼみ、白は花びら、緑は葉桜を表しています。どうぞ、この季節にご賞味ください。

[JasonTrue]

The "pounded" ones I've had often had a coarse texture. I keep forgetting the name for them (and each region probably has a different name), but the one on my mind is often oblong rather than ball-like.

Yomogi (mugwort) or matcha could theoretically be used for the green dango in sanshoku dango, but yomogi is more common. I think the red ones are usually just food coloring (as was the case in the recipe Hiroyuki referred to), but you could use a bit of beet juice.

[miladyinsanity]

So, you mean sanshoku (3-color) dango like this?  I did some googling and found they are usually made with joshinko (rice flour).  You can make them with shiratamako (a type of mochi rice flour), but the texture is different.

That's exactly it!

I've been to the Japanese supermarkets here but I've not seen shiratamako, so ordinary rice flour will have to do.

What's the difference between kushi dango and sanshoku dango, other than sanshoku dango coming in three colors? The pictures I've seen online...the kushi dango looks the same to me. Because I've only managed to dig out kushi dango recipes.

The "pounded" ones I've had often had a coarse texture. I keep forgetting the name for them (and each region probably has a different name), but the one on my mind is often oblong rather than ball-like.

Yomogi (mugwort) or matcha could theoretically be used for the green dango in sanshoku dango, but yomogi is more common. I think the red ones are usually just food coloring (as was the case in the recipe Hiroyuki referred to), but you could use a bit of beet juice.

Is there a distinct flavor to it? I don't remember the green ones tasting noticeably different from the white or pink ones.

I could go ask in the China forum whether anybody knows what mugwort is in Mandarin. I know it's used in Chinese medicine, so it should be the same thing.

Or I could be an utter heathen and use pandan juice.

Edited by miladyinsanity, 14 March 2007 - 08:21 AM.

[SheenaGreena]

correct me if I'm wrong, but mugwort is really grassy tasting. I love the taste of it and it's so hard to explain. It grows all over the place in korea, even in the city and I bet it's all over the place in japan too