Mochi

Glutinous rice steamed whole and pounded until no grain is left, from one ingredient.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 1 kg mochigome
• water, for soaking
• potato starch, for dusting

Method

1. WHOLE GRAINS, STEAMED AND POUNDED -- not flour and water. The daifuku on this site is made from glutinous rice FLOUR cooked in a microwave, which is the practical way to get a small quantity for wrapping. This is the other method entirely: steamed rice beaten until the grains disappear, which gives a longer, springier chew than anything reconstituted from flour.
2. ONE INGREDIENT. No sugar, no salt, no water added after steaming.
3. Soak the rice overnight, at least 8 hours. Underoaked rice steams unevenly and leaves hard specks that never pound out.
4. Drain it 30 minutes, then steam in a cloth 40 to 50 minutes until every grain is translucent and squashes to paste between the fingers. Taste from the MIDDLE of the mass, not the top.
5. POUND IT HOT. The moment it cools past about 60C it stops becoming smooth and starts tearing. Work fast, and warm the mortar first if you can.
6. First, press and turn with the pestle to crush the grains -- do not strike yet. 3 to 4 minutes, until it is a rough paste.
7. THEN STRIKE, with a second person turning and wetting the mass between blows. 10 to 15 minutes. Hands in water, not in flour, or it dries.
8. It is done when it stretches a long way without tearing and no grain is visible at all. Stop short and it is grainy; there is no fixing that later.
9. Tip onto a board dusted with potato starch, flatten to 2 cm, and leave to firm.
10. Cut into squares once cold. It keeps a week, hardens, and is then grilled or boiled -- hard mochi is normal, not stale.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes