Mochi - Japanese rice cake

According to Wiki (this's just a personal blog, so I guess it's ok to use wiki info haha), Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice (not to be confused with gluten) pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While also eaten year-round, Mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time. Similar snacks are prominent in Hawaii, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

Hmm...talking bout the taste of Mochi...it's hard to describe. It tastes quite bland at first, but then, when you get the taste of the filling, it sweetens thing up. Mochi has a weird texture, delicious and kind of gummy and odd. But, they are delicious! Trust me! And they also look so cute. 

Here are some photos of the 'real' Japanese Mochi that I got from the Internet. 

You can buy Mochi from most of any Asian grocery shops in Sydney (I see so many of them in Chatswood, China Town, Eastwood, Bankstown, just to name some). However, I do not really like the taste of those, quite too sweet for my palate. And then, I started looking around the Internet and found this super easy, simple but tastes delicious recipe. Was successful after the first attempt - which is unnormal to me! So I'd like to share with you. All you need is some basic ingredients (that you can find at any Asian grocery shops around the town) and a mixing bowl, a rolling pin, plus a steamer! 

This is my home-made Pandan Mochi with green/mung bean filling

Ingredients

• 300 glutinous rice flour
• 60g rice flour
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (optional), can substitute with 1/2 cup milk
• 200ml hot water
• 3tbsp sugar (optional)
• 160ml evaporated milk (optional, if not using, add more water to the mixture)
• 240ml fruit juice (optional, depends on the taste you want to make, e.g. strawberry, orange, mango)
• Filling as desired (e.g. red bean paste, black sesame paste, mung bean paste, ice-cream, etc)
• Butter/Oil (any kind except Olive oil) to grease

Note: Traditionally it was made from cooked glutinous rice pounded intensively while adding a bit of water between each pound. 

Method

1. Mix glutinous rice flour, rice flour and sugar into a big mixing bowl.
2. Dissolve sugar in 200ml hot water. Add in the evaporated milk (if using). Pour this into the flour mixture and mix till smooth and well blended. Stir in the fruit juice (if using - here I'm using pandan leaf juice). Strain if mixture is lumpy.
3. Pour batter into a greased tray/bowl and steam on high heat for 30 minutes. 
4. Remove from steamer and stir the cooked dough with a plastic knife till smooth. Leave aside to cool.
5. Filling: you can buy the filling from some Japanese grocery stores. Otherwise, you can simply create your own filling! Here I'm using mung bean (since there's still some left in the kitchen), you can choose to make red bean (highly recommended to combine with greentea/matcha flavoured pound), black sesame, etc...there're heaps of recipes show how to make the filling paste around the Internet!
6. How to: 

• Dust your hand with flour
• Take a small piece (18-19 grams each piece) of cooked dough and flatten it into a round disc - not too thin (about 1-1.5 cm)!! *Tips: to avoid stickiness, you might use some cling wrap to cover the surface of your bench/chopping board, then cover the surface of the dough ball with another piece of cling wrap before rolling it out
• Wrap in the filling as desired (using a teaspoon to put some fillings in the middle of the dough 'disc')
• Seal the edges tightly and gently shape them into round balls (using your palms). Do this quickly so the dough doesn't get too cold. 
• Once finished, wrap up mochi balls individually tightly.

The inside look (with green/mung bean filling) - I love the taste!