Organic Brown Rice Mochi Recipe
It’s a staple food in Japanese and macrobiotic cuisine, but you may not have tried it. Mochi is a delicious rice treat that’s somewhere in between bread and cake, but not quite like either.
The traditional process of pounding the rice into a paste that puffs up when cooked, is worthy of celebration. And it’s not uncommon to see mochi served around the celebration of the Japanese New Year. But you can celebrate any time, by making your own mochi with organic brown rice.
Once prepared, you can eat plain or serve your mochi with dessert (it’s popular with ice cream) or in savory dishes. I like to serve it with sautéed kale and beans.
Organic Brown Rice Mochi Recipe
Makes 12 pieces of mochi
Ingredients
1 cup organic sweet brown rice
Enough water to soak the rice
1/8 teaspoon salt
corn, rice or potato starch (for dusting)
Directions
Soak the dry rice in water for several hours or overnight. Drain off excess water.
In a strong food processor or blender, process the rice until it makes a smooth, creamy paste.
Pour the mixture into a bowl or small pot you can steam with in a double boiler (you can also use a pressure cooker for about ten minutes). The rice should steam about 30 minutes or until the mixture gets glutinous and sticky. It should also appear somewhat glossy.
On a tray dusted with the starch, pour the hot mochi mixture as evenly as possible, about ½ inch in thickness. Let cool before putting in the refrigerator for at least two hours. If you want to make round mochi, you’ll need to work with the very sticky dough to form the balls, which is time consuming and worth mentioning again: very sticky.
When ready to serve, cut into one to two-inch small squares and bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about ten minutes. The mochi will puff up and ooze and do all sorts of strange things. This means it’s perfect and ready to eat!
Enjoy!
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Image:jewell willett
