Rose Mochi

Mochi Monster

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Soft, moist, bouncy treat

Starch dusted lips betray me

The Mochi monster

Consuming every morsel

Savoring each tiny cake

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One of my favorite sweet snacks is Mochi. It is gluten and dairy free, in fact depending on what starch you use it’s free of most major allergens, except rice of course, and potentially corn. Mochi is great because it is a feast for the senses. The texture is soft and chewy, this batch I made was fragrant, as I used dried roses to make the syrup. The Color boasts a hint of pink with a perfect balance of floral sweetness. The pungent rose complementing the delicate natural floral flavor of the rice. 🍡

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If you love to make something sweet for your special someone, you could try this easy Mochi recipe. You could even try it as a romantic couple’s activity. Breaking out of the usual routine to set up an at home date experience can mean more, and make more memories than simply purchasing an expensive gift or going to eat at a resturant. 💐

I like to use this Koda Farms Mochiko. Mochiko is glutinous rice flour, and it’s milled extra fine, like powdered sugar. Don’t let the word glutinous fool you; it just means sticky in this context, not full of gluten! There are other brands you can buy to make this recipe; no doubt, the best ones come from Japan, but this is a local California brand, which means the cost for me is reasonable, and it makes great-tasting and textured mochi, so I’m happy with it.

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If you want to make Rose Mochi

gather these tools:

• Lidded Saucepan
• large mixing bowl
• liquid measuring cup
• fine mesh strainer
• mixing tools: whisk, rubber spatula
• Sheet pan or Sil-pats
• knife or pizza cutter

And these Ingredients:

• 1lb Mochiko flour
• 3 cups cool water
• Dried Roses
• 1 cup sugar
• 1.5 cups water
• Cornstarch for dusting (or other starch of choice like tapioca or potato)
• Powdered sugar (starch sweetener optional)

First, prepare your pan

I use a full sheet pan and corn starch to dust it. The recipe states you can oil the pan; I have never found success with this method. It may be the texture of my pan. You can lay out Sil-Pats, but you will need to dust those with starch, too, because when I tell you Mochi is sticky, I mean it. I have a flailing autistic fit every time I make it (sticky is my mortal enemy), but it is literally my favorite food, so I can’t not make it.

When I have powdered sugar around, I make a 25% powdered sugar 75% cornstarch blend for dusting with. You can use other starches if you can’t or don’t want to use cornstarch, but price and availability may be an issue. This is the easiest and most cost-effective option for me. It also has a fairly neutral flavor.

Next, make the rose syrup

To make this mochi, I used the ratios on the box listed for cocoa mochi and replaced the cocoa syrup with this rose syrup.

• Pour 1.5 cups water into saucepan
• Fill the water with dried roses, 2–3 handfuls.
• Make sure all the roses get submerged and bring the water to a boil.
• Reduce to simmer for three minutes,
• Turn off heat cover for 5 minutes,
• Strain rosewater through a fine mesh sieve, gently pressing the saturated roses.
• *Carefully* Wipe the saucepan clean.
• Measure 1 cup of rose water back into clean saucepan (I ended up with about 1 tbsp of reserve) and adjust heat to medium
• Stir in 1 cup of sugar until dissolved and syrup comes just to a simmer
• turn off the heat.
• Replace the lid.

Making the Mochi

Pour 1 lb mochiko into a large mixing bowl

• Whisk 3 cups cool water with flour until smooth
• Cover with damp towel and microwave for 5 minutes.

To achieve the best results I recommend microwaving in one minute increments and stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth after each minute.

• After the fifth minute and stirring, gently pour the rose syrup into the bowl.
• Mix until combined and smooth.

This step will start off scary. Have no fear, if you slowly stir, and keep slowly smushing the mochi lumps into the syrup, it will mix and you will eventually defeat the mochi monster that bubbled up inside your bowl. You will have to be quick at this stage.

• As soon as it’s smooth, pour directly onto your prepared pan.
• Spread via combined tilting and spatula technique. Or if you are pouring directly onto a prepared counter, pour out as evenly as possible.

Hot Tip! Be very careful not to drop the bowl or pan. Hot sticky mochi is a mess you or your evening will never recover from.

• Dust the top with starch mix
• Let cool 20+ minutes

test a tiny portion, if the mochi is gritty, it’s not finished. Wait another 5 minutes or more before testing again.

• cut into small squares (If you are more adventurous, you might try filling rounds about the size and shape of dumpling wrappers with a fruit like a *dry* strawberry, or a dollop of red bean paste. This preparation takes a lot more work, along with trial and error, to get right.)

I used a pasta cutter to quickly roll out lines and cubes, a pizza cutter would work just as well, but if you don’t have either, a sharp knife will do the trick.

• dust sticky edges
• Store in an airtight container. 2 days room temp, 1 week refrigerated, 1 month freezer.

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Happy February, friends. Whether you test this recipe on yourself, your friends, or a paramour, I hope you enjoy a bit of Mochi Love.

K.B. Silver