Mochi was a rare treat when I was growing up, so I ate my fill of it at family gatherings on New Year’s Day: delicious homemade zenzai, nantu (Okinawan mochi), mochi filled with sweet bean paste and my favorite — soft, pillowy chi chi dango. This is my mother’s version.
Ingredients
16 oz. box of mochiko (sweet glutinous rice flour)
2-2/3 cups water
1/2 c evaporated milk
1/2 c water
2-1/2 cups sugar (or more) to taste
kinako (roasted soybean flour) or potato starch
for dusting
Directions
Combine mochiko and 2-2/3 cups water in a large bowl and steam 45 minutes to 1 hour until solid but still sticky.
While the mochi is steaming, combine evaporated milk, 1/2 cup water and sugar in a small pot (add another 1/4 cup sugar if you like it sweeter). Bring to a boil. If you want colored mochi, stir in a few drops of food coloring.
Add liquid gradually to bowl with steamed mochiko and stir.
Butter a 9-by-13-inch glass pan and pour the mixture into it. Let it cool and set. Butter a plastic knife and cut the chi chi dango.
Cut the 13-inch length of the pan in fourths and then cut rows approximately an inch wide. Dust pieces with kinako or potato starch; brush off excess.
Prep time: about 1-1/2 hours
Yield: 52 pieces, about 1-by-2-1/4 inches.
Do you have a favorite recipe and story to share? For consideration in the next issue, include a photo and mail them to Generations Recipe, PO Box 4213, Honolulu, HI 96812, or email them to Cynthia@generations808.com.
RECIPE NOTE: The Hawai‘i Book of Rice, Volume 2 by Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi features 101 rice recipes, including this one. The book is available for $22.95 at bookshawaii.net (free shipping on all Hawai‘i orders), Barnes & Noble, Walmart and other retail outlets statewide.
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