Kinako, coconut and azuki mochi
Wikipedia says mochi is "a Japanese rice cake made out of steamed glutinous rice that is pounded into a paste and then molded into shape." Described like that, who on earth would want to such a thing?!
My turn. Mochi is a velvet soft, smooth dumpling made from Japanese sweet rice (mochi-kome)--a sticky, chewy, sweet-goodness of a snack. And distinct from Japanese mochi--decidedly modern, distinctly American and of course, a little Hawaii thrown in.
My happy confluence of mochi started yesterday in San Jose Japantown. Number 1: I ended up at Shuei-do, the venerable mochi/manju store. And score! Coconut mochi, and azuki and kinako manju were still available at 3:30 pm! Usually this place sells out by noon.
My turn. Mochi is a velvet soft, smooth dumpling made from Japanese sweet rice (mochi-kome)--a sticky, chewy, sweet-goodness of a snack. And distinct from Japanese mochi--decidedly modern, distinctly American and of course, a little Hawaii thrown in.
My happy confluence of mochi started yesterday in San Jose Japantown. Number 1: I ended up at Shuei-do, the venerable mochi/manju store. And score! Coconut mochi, and azuki and kinako manju were still available at 3:30 pm! Usually this place sells out by noon.
Number 2: It's Mochi-tsuki at the Buddhist Church. This is one of the most important Japanese New Year's traditions. We have 5 trays of perfectly formed plain mochi (no flavor and no filling). Plain mochi can be eaten dumpling-style in soup, or just slightly pan fried. The outside just turns a bit brown and crunchy, it swells up and it is then drizzled with shoyu and a bit of sugar. The is known as the Breakfast of Champions in our house.
Mom's strawberry mochi--made by my niece
Finally, number 3: Checking the Feeding My Ohana Facebook page, someone today asked about mochi and its cousin manju. And I sadly (and unintentionally) overlooked a request for a mochi recipe. Bad, bad me--don't I know the power of social media?? So anyway, here are 2 of my favorite mochi recipes--both from mom.
Click here for Jello Mochi--The color and flavor comes from Jello. Instead of cooking/pounding mochi rice, use mochiko (mochi flour, found in the Asian/Hispanic food aisle). And don't use grape jello, not because of taste, but because this will look like concrete. Stick
to orange strawberry.
Click here for Coconut Butter Mochi--Japanese/Hawaii hybrid. I adore this. Not as sticky as normal mochi, but a good sturdy custard-ey texture.
Perfect comfort food as we start the dash toward Christmas and New Year's.
Click here for Jello Mochi--The color and flavor comes from Jello. Instead of cooking/pounding mochi rice, use mochiko (mochi flour, found in the Asian/Hispanic food aisle). And don't use grape jello, not because of taste, but because this will look like concrete. Stick
to orange strawberry.
Click here for Coconut Butter Mochi--Japanese/Hawaii hybrid. I adore this. Not as sticky as normal mochi, but a good sturdy custard-ey texture.
Perfect comfort food as we start the dash toward Christmas and New Year's.
