Almond Creme Mochi

iChrissy is a bit out of routine with the blog since it has been a while since iChrissy has been posting her cooking adventures. However, mochi is a good ease back into the cooking "scene".

On iChrissy's recent trip to NYC, she indulged in edible glory with friends at Kom Tang, fancy cocktails at Pegu Club with a much loved one, and a 3-hour lunch with family at Bouley. In addition to eating massive amounts of chow and walking off massive of calories, iChrissy met up with iMom, a formally trained foodie from San Francisco. She told iChrissy about a discovery in Gourmet magazine. Turns out it was a Japanese sweet treat called Butter Mochi. Traditionally mochi is made by pounding glutinous rice into a sticky mass then molded into shapes and dusted with potato starch. Modern times allows mochi to be produced relatively quick and with much less effort and home cooks can now steam some up in their home microwave. Even though it is more closely associated with Japanese New Year (lunar new year) mochi is available year 'round in a variety of flavors ranging from traditional plain to fresh strawberry and chocolate. While iChrissy was flying back home in a hot airplane cabin, she got to thinking. Its been a while since mochi has been produced in the iKitchen...And a treat so easily made...Why not make some upon return? After a day of much needed rest, iChrissy thumbed through her trusted cook book (Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes by Jean Watanabe Hee) and found the perfect experiment Almond Creme Mochi!

The main ingredient of mochi is Japanese mochiko flour, a very fine flour milled from glutinous rice. A proportioned amount of mochiko flour, water, and almond extract was added to make a thick and sticky liquid. (my apologies for not providing a pre-steamed picture of mochi "batter"...Next time iChrissy makes more mochi, a new picture will appear). This is then poured into a lightly greased microwavable container and covered with plastic wrap. 8-10 minutes later, a slightly transparent block of mochi is finished. Using a PLASTIC knife, you can cut the block into smaller bite-sized pieces and dust it with katakuriko (potato starch) for a delicious, slightly sweet almond creme snack!

Post-Microwaved:















The Conclusion:

iChrissy was worried that with only 10 oz (2 cups) of mochiko flour and 2 cups of sugar the mochi might be too sweet, but in the end, it was almost perfect! iChrissy didn't get the microwave timing perfect which made for a slight rubbery surface, but flavor was an A+! If you like almond extract, you would LOVE Almond Creme Mochi!!

Rating: 5 out of 5 cupcakes of approval!!