Mochi!
Once upon a time, you would have to steam glutinous rice and pulverise it into a paste to make the cake. These days you can get glutinous rice flour and whip up a batch quite easily. To make your own mochi you will need to the following:
- 1/2 cup of milk (coconut milk or plant-based milk work too)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2tsp vanilla extract
- 2tsp coconut oil
- 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
- Cornflour or potato starch for dusting and work surface
- Ice cream for filling
- Optional - food colouring for the dough
Before starting the dough, scoop 4-6 ice cream balls in your desired flavour and return to the freezer to set. Depending on the size and amount you want, you can use a muffin mould, gaiwan (Asian tea cups), or egg cups, to help with the shape, just line with some cling film for easy removal later. The larger the vessel, the larger the mochi and you would be able to produce as many, so bear that in mind.
Whist the formed ice cream sets, in a pan, combine the milk, vanilla, colouring and coconut oil and warm through until the coconut oil has melted, add in the sugar, stirring until it is dissolved. Once the mixture is smooth remove from heat and add in the rice flour, whisking constantly to avoid clumps. Once homogenous return to the hob and set to a medium/medium-high heat and with a rubber spatula, stir constantly until the dough cooks into a gummy and elastic dough ball.
Transfer dough to a heavily dusted surface and coat hands in the starch. Gently press and rollout out the delicate dough into a rectangle. Cover with clingfilm and let rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
After resting, take out the dough and cut into 4-6 squares. (If you used a muffin tin for the ice cream, it is more likely that you can cover four ice cream balls, egg cups should allow for 6). Brush off any excess starch from the squares, and working with one ice cream out of the freezer at any given time, place the ice cream ball in the middle of the dough square, flattest side up, place that on a cling film and return it its vessel to help maintain the shape/manage the fiddly edges. Once back in its cup, bring all the edges of the dough together and gently pinch to seal, then finish with closing up the cling film. Repeat until you have made all of your mochi ice creams. Allow them to freeze again for 10 minutes before serving.
For tips on the shaping of the mochi ice cream, this video has been a boon, and there is a cute dog in it!
I have experimented with other fillings and find that no-bake cookie dough is just as delightful and a tad easier to work with. Get creative, as I have seen mochi balls filled traditionally with sweet beans or more off the cuff things like chocolate coated strawberries! As always, be bold, have fun and enjoy!