Mochi & Mache

Sweet mochi is one of our favorite snacks/desserts specially ice cream mochi and the ones filled with sweet azuki bean paste. I have tried making them once before, about 4 years ago, but was unsuccesful. Thankfully, several good recipes have been popping up online using mochiko (glutinous rice flour) and canned Japanese sweet azuki beans, which are readily available from Asian stores. Tip: Buy only the Japanese beans. I do not recommend the Korean or Chinese, both are too watery and you will have to cook it further until it has the right consistency, it's a waste of time, in my opinion.

Mochi with Sweet Azuki Beans
1 cup sweet rice flour (mochiko)
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
a bit of pink food coloring, optional
1 can Japanese sweet bean paste
1 cup toasted soybean or rice flour for dusting

• Transfer beans into a bowl, stir until smooth, store in freezer for 30 minutes while preparing mochi. In a medium bowl mix together rice, water and sugar. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir thoroughly, microwave again and stir, 4 more times until smooth and gluey. Cover with a damp towel to keep it warm while shaping/filling. Have the bowl of toasted flour near your work area. Sprinkle the work surface liberally with toasted rice, dip hands on bowl. Scoop a golf ball size of cooked mochi and drop on the toasted rice, form into a round shape, flatten to about 3 inches, fill with a tsp of sweet beans. Gather edges to cover beans, all the while pinching and form into a ball. Place on a container seam side down. Refrigerate leftovers.

Mache is the Filipino/Chinese cousin of mochi, they have a common ingredient, sweet rice flour, and both of them are filled with sweet stuff. The difference is the filling, mache has sugar and toasted sesame seeds. This is the first time I made mache, I have no idea how to cook them, I just guessed and steamed them. They turned out sooo good. I will use toasted black sesame and boil them (like palitaw) next time I make them.

Mache
1 cup sweet rice flour
¼ cup water + 1-2 tablespoon, if needed
sugar
toasted sesame seeds
toasted rice flour

• In a small bowl mix water gradually into the rice, adding more water if necessary until it has the consistency of galapong. Mix the sugar and sesame seeds in another bowl. Scoop out 1 ½ T of rice mixture, form into a ball, flatten, raise edges and put 1 tsp sugar & sesame seeds in the middle. Pinch edges together and form into an oval. Steam on a parchment-lined bamboo steamer for 10 minutes. Roll in toasted rice powder.

the sugar has melted inside the mache, so sweet, so good