Making Mochi at Home

Making mochi is not the easiest thing in the world. One would think that with just three ingredients it can't be that bad, but you would be wrong. It's one of the more labor intensive items - hard labor - to come out of our kitchen.

What is it? Mochi is a Japanese dish created from glutenous rice, usually sweetened but not always, pounded into shape, and can be filled with just about anything you desire. Traditionally mochi are made to celebrate the new year and are filled with an - a sweetened red bean paste.

On New Year's Eve Wifey's mom came over and supervised our creating of mochi because, well, we have no idea what we are doing. Here's the basic recipe we used:

1 box of Mochiko 

2 3/4 cups of water 

3 cups of sugar

The first item is this, mochiko - sweet rice flour, and can be found at any Japanese food store (we shop at Uwajimaya in Portland). The above is a little misleading because you need either more mochiko or cornstarch (or powdered sugar, we've read but not tried) for dusting the finished product, plus whatever you are going to use for filling.

You are also going to need some rather unique items, such as these:

These can also be found at a Japanese store and are the Japanese versions of a mortar and pestle. The bowl, called a suribachi, has many thin ridges on the inside in varying directions, which is key for the later steps of pounding the mochi. The stick is, well, for pounding.

You will also need a steamer of some sort and a cheesecloth.

First you mix the box of Mochiko and the sugar together. Add water and mix slowly, until you have a smooth mixture. You may not need all the water the recipe suggests, but knowing exactly how much is a fine line we haven't mastered yet. Wifey's mom was skeptical when we put it all in, saying it was too much, and she ended up being right. I have no idea how to determine what is too much.

After the steamer is ready, put the cheesecloth in it and pour the mochiko/sugar/water mixture in, making sure to keep it all inside the cloth. Cover the steamer and let it do it's magic for 20 minutes or so, until the mixture thickens and becomes more clear rather than milky. It should still be malleable and not completely hold it's shape.

Then you pour the mixture into the special bowl and the fun part begins. At the beginning this will be a little lumpy and the point of pounding the mixture is to smooth everything out. Pound away. Don't stop until the mixture loses any lumpiness and starts to take on an almost glue-like texture.

This may take awhile. Switch hands or switch people, as necessary. Did I mention this is not a one person job? Also, don't get this stuff on your clothes. It's not just "like" glue; I'm pretty sure it has alternative uses.

See this below? It's the an, a paste of red beans (azuki), sugar and salt. There are recipes for this, but it's also sold as a finished product at Japanese food stores. No matter what size you buy it will be way, way too much for a batch of mochi.

After the beating of the mochi, we poured the whole thing out on our marble pastry board we dusted with additional mochiko. For this batch, this was the point we realized there was too much moisture because it was super, super, super sticky. Here you should be able to rip off a chunk (it's still hot, just a warning) and form a nice ball, but ours was simply a sticky mess. We had to use way too much extra mochiko and then wait for it to cool a bit, which isn't ideal.

The general flow is you take a chunk of the mixture, roll it into a ball so the edges are smooth, make a dent in the middle and put in about a tablespoon of an, and then wrap it all up, sealing the edges. Then you get this:

See the one closest to the camera on the left? That was one I did. Don't make them look like that. Instead, they should look like the one to the right of that, which Wifey's mom did. That's the difference between an amateur and a pro.

Mochi food porn shot:

We were making these for the family New Year's celebration, so they got fancy cupcake wrappers.

Gratuitous finished mochi pic:

Super yummy. I'm not even a big fan of an, but once a year, in mochi, it's just the right thing to do.

Remember above how I mentioned all kind of things could be done to the mochi? Well, on the mochiko box is a recipe for Cocoa Mochi - no way were we going to let that go unmade. Plus, it's done in the microwave so it doesn't take very long at all.

Plus, we had some pretty damn good cocoa powder in the cupboard to use. Mmm, Valrhona...

Here is the chocolatey goodness that got whisked with the mochiko.

After microwaving everything together, we poured it into a Pyrex dish with parchment paper on top and bottom so we could easily get it out when it cooled for cutting.

It actually turned out very nicely. It had the normal soft consistency of mochi and a pleasant amount of chocolate flavor; noticeable, but not too much. Unfortunately that's the last picture I have because we were in a hurry when it came to cutting it and heading out to the family function. We kept some extra and set it aside, but notice the part in the recipe at the end where it says "store in airtight container and refrigerate"?

You should definitely do that. We didn't and we got some white spots on our leftover cocoa mochi, so we threw them out before taking another pic (sad face here). Trust me when I say it was really good, much easier to make than the other recipe, and you should try it.

Oh, and if you see this at the store, buy it:

(image from here)

Seriously, just do it. The Kona coffee one (you heard that right) is outstanding and I also really like the strawberry and vanilla. The ice cream inside the mochi is pretty dang good - good flavor, creamy - and one of these little guys is a nice little snack. At only 100 calories (I was surprised too) you won't have to spend too much extra time in the gym either.

So is homemade mochi worth it? I think it is. You can buy it in the stores, but it's honestly just not as good as fresh from your own kitchen. Even if it is a crapload of work.

A New Member of the Family

We here at the blog love homemade ice cream. Heck, to be honest, we just love ice cream - it's just better when it's made at home with super high quality ingredients.

I remember making ice cream as a kid - with rock salt and a hand crank mixer. It blew. Maybe the ice cream was good - I really don't remember - but it sure wasn't worth the time standing there turning a crank for some ungodly amount of time.

We had an electric ice cream maker at one time, a very inexpensive one, and it did okay - until about the third or fourth time when it decided turning was just too much work. For the past year or so we had talked about getting a decent one, so when Williams-Sonoma dropped an email in the inbox saying if we bought the stainless steel version from Cuisinart they'd give us a $25 gift card, well, we splurged.

So here it is, the newest member of the MyNWX home kitchen:

So, we had the machine, now what? We picked the vanilla bean ice cream recipe out of the booklet that came in the box. Last Saturday at the Beaverton Farmer's Market we picked up some whole milk and heavy cream from Lady Lane Farms, where we buy milk every week, and some pasteruized eggs from Uwajimaya, and picked up a vanilla bean at New Seasons.

Now, the key note out of all of that is the vanilla bean - they are not created equal. If you have never tasted beans from the major types - generally referred to by their locales, Madagascar, Tahiti, and Mexico - together, you really should. It's a fantastic experience. Our favorite is Madagascar and that's just about all we buy - and almost always it's from Nielsen-Massey.

Unfortunately New Seasons didn't have bulk vanilla beans and doesn't carry the N-M beans, so I picked out another brand. It didn't register the jar didn't say where it was from, but as soon as we cracked it open to removed the seeds for the custard it was quite obvious it was from Tahiti. Oh well (not really a big fan of the Tahitian vanilla). We were making ice cream dammit - now! It's interesting to note the company that sold this bean doesn't even say where it's from on their website.

Undeterred, we mixed all the ingredients together (we did use Madgascar vanilla extract per the recipe) and got our custard going. After everything was mixed together in the pan and heating, it looked like this:

It should be noted here we didn't actually make ice cream - we made frozen custard. According to some site we looked at that I don't recall - maybe it was Wikipedia, they are never wrong - 95% of the "ice cream" homemade in the U.S. is actually frozen custard. I think it has to do with the amount of egg yolks used in the mixture. I think. (Note from Wikipedia: "In the United States the FDA requires it to contain at least 10% milkfat and 1.4% egg yolk solids. If it has less egg yolk solids, it is considered ice cream.")

Fine by us - if you have read the blog you know we love the stuff, at Tart in Portland, Sheridan's in Vancouver, and Old School Frozen Custard in Seattle.

So after getting the mixture properly heated and mixed, then comes the hard part - you have to wait for it to cool thoroughly and chill it in the refrigerator. We are not all that patient. This process was started at about 5pm and we wanted ice cream that night. By the time we got it in the fridge it was after 8pm (after letting it cool on the counter a bit).

We checked it at 9. Still warm.

We checked again at 10. Still not quite.

We checked it at 10:45. Needed a few more minutes.

Finally, about 11:30, we called it good and poured the mixture into the ice cream maker, turning it on. This process takes about 25-30 minutes.

Now, if you buy one of these, take note: It's freakin' loud! Seriously, you can't hear yourself think. If you want fresh ice cream for a dinner party, I recommend having the party outside while the ice cream maker runs. You couldn't hear the T.V., the music, yourself think - it was that loud. Some of the reviews of the machine knocked it down because of that, but if you expect it ahead of time it's probably not a big deal.

Thirty minutes later....VOILA!

Does that not look like amazing goodness or what?!

The consistency was amazing. So creamy, so smooth - so damn good. Really, the only thing that held it back in our minds was the Tahitian bean. And even that, given everything else, didn't stop this from being amazing.

The finished product:

Cuisinart ice cream maker - A

Homemade vanilla bean frozen custard - A

Tahitian vanilla beans - C

It was so good, we may never go out for ice cream or buy it at the store again. (Yeah right, who am I kidding?)

I should note this was not exactly cost effective. The single vanilla bean cost $10 (though the Nielsen-Massey one gives you two beans for $9). The organic, cage-free eggs were probably $2 worth. The local cream and whole milk was about another $10.

But making your own ice cream? Priceless!

Next time we'll use the Madagascar beans we have already boughten and put in the cupboard. Can't wait!

Nibbling Through Seattle

One final post on Seattle, this one having to do with some of the city's treats. The Emerald City is a nice one to visit for all sorts of reasons, but ours tend to be of the nibbling variety.

Panorama view of downtown from West Seattle (click the pic for a larger version)

One of our first stops was World Spice, a store specializing in spices and teas from all over the world. We first found this place via Savor Seattle's Off the Beaten Path tour (now defunct - the tour, not the company) and we ended up going back after the tour with a long list of spice blends and teas we wanted to try.

Outside view

If you don't know where World Spice is, you probably won't accidentally find it. It's on Western Avenue, to the Puget Sound side of Pike Place Market, and away from the major market craziness.

Here's a little peak inside the store:

What you see in the foreground on the table is samples of spices (there are more along the wall to the right, and along the window to the left) to give you an idea of what they smell like. The teas are down some stairs to the left, and to the back of the picture is the larger containers the store's employees fill your order with.

There is no air conditioning in the store and the line doesn't move quickly, so that combination can make it rough on a hot day.

For us, we picked up some pearl jasmine green tea, assam black tea, and a sweet chai spice blend to go with the assam. That's a fantastic mixture (the black and chai spice, not with the pearl jasmine) with some warm whole milk and a little honey. We've tried other mixes and blends and they just aren't as flavorful as this one.

Ideally we could find a store just like this in Portland - sure would cut down on the gas. If you have any suggestions, please leave it in the comments!

Our next stop was back up to the crazy part of the market and a cheesecake store called The Confectional. This is another place we stopped at on a Savor Seattle tour, but it's someplace we were going to go anyway.

We had to stop in because we had a Groupon certificate for a six-pack of mini cheesecakes for $12, instead of $22.50. For our six we chose (clockwise from the top left below): peanut butter and chocolate, Seattle's New York style, caramel, quadruple chocolate, raspberry and white chocolate, and cookies and mint chocolate.

All of them were pretty decent. The caramel tasted a little fake to me, but they were good. Are they as good as the New York style cheesecake here in Portland at Kenny and Zuke's? Not even close.

Our next stop was Cupcake Royale, one of several cupcake places in Seattle we have been to before. This is a picture of the West Seattle location.

We had leftover Groupon coupons for two four-packs that we picked up. We ordered a variety, but the seasonal strawberry cupcake was phenomenal. The frosting had strawberries in it and was fantastically fresh.

Unfortunately, no pictures of the cupcakes. Carrying a backpack around and walking sounded like a good idea, but after putting the cupcake boxes in they got a little, well, squished. Still recognizable to be sure and still yummy, but not pretty enough for the camera, if you know what I mean.

Next up was Sugar Rush only a block away from Cupcake Royale in West Seattle, because I needed coffee and because they also sell excellent cupcakes.

Misaki waiting dutifully for her papa.

Again, no pictures of the cupcakes, but both them and the coffee are highly recommended. Service here is also fantastic.

Lunch came from Bakery Nouveau. Well, lunch and a bunch of other things. Let me see, what all did we get... Chocolate croissant, ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette, a slice of pizza with goat cheese and tomato sauce, a brownie, and two macaroons - raspberry and salted caramel macaroon.

Not a good pic, but you should have seen the others

The sandwich was very good and big enough to split, which was nice. The pizza was interesting. It had a big, thick crust - almost like a deep dish - but unlike anything I've had before. Perhaps this is a French interpretation of pizza? The tastes were good, but just not quite what I'd call pizza. The brownie was actually disappointing. It was okay, just not great. The macaroon wasn't impressive either - there are better at Pix Patisserie here in Portland. The croissant was excellent.

Now, admittedly, we got here rather late in the day for a bakery - after 3pm - so the best stuff had been picked over. Unfortunately we missed out on the twice baked chocolate croissants.

We also hit up Old School Frozen Custard on Capitol Hill (warning, their official site just crashed my browser twice) for some chocolate frozen custard. Very smooth, not too rich, super creamy - absolutely we highly recommend this. We also ordered a treat with vanilla custard and peanut butter atop a brownie - that was pure perfection. So good...the brownie there was actually better than the one we had at Bakery Nouveau, which was quite a surprise. Love this place, and it's quickly becoming a staple for our Seattle trips.

Our final stop was Molly Moon's Handmade Ice Cream. We hadn't intended on going there, just happened to find ourselves standing outside after eating frozen custard. Supposedly this place is a Seattle favorite and there are usually lines out the door, but there was no line at the moment. We went back and forth for a minute, since we had just eaten custard, but figured what the heck. Having heard the salted caramel was very good and that being one of our favorite flavors, I ordered a scoop in a dish.

The ice cream was very good. Creamy, thick, smooth - all of the things that make good ice cream this had. The salted caramel? Not so much. The caramel part tasted either burnt or fake - couldn't tell which - and there was way, way, way too much salt in this ice cream. Way too much salt. It was okay for a couple bites, but after that we both started to get nauseous. The final third just ended up in the next trash can.

We're torn on a return trip to Molly Moon's. On one hand, perhaps another flavor would give us a better experience - the ice cream part was very good. On the other hand, this flavor people supposedly really like didn't match our palettes at all - would a different one be any better? Maybe...have to think on that.

Misaki would like to tell everyone the treat she got at Next to Nature in West Seattle was yummy. (Of course, she didn't eat it until the next day because she won't eat on the road, and it's not something we couldn't have found here at home, but that's neither here nor there. She had a good time on our adventures.)

Mostly a good day...can't wait to go back!

A Lovely Meal

Wifey and I decided we needed a mid-week date night a couple weeks back and decided to check out a pizza place we hadn't been before. We narrowed it down to Dove Vivi and Lovely's Fifty-Fifty. Dove Vivi is off Glisan and Lovely's is on Mississippi Avenue, and since we could pair that with a visit to The Sugar Cube for a cupcake dessert we opted for the latter. Maybe next time Vivi.

Lovely's Fifty-Fifty is the new place opened next door to what was Lovely Hula Hands, a place we wanted to go to but never did before it closed. It's run by the same people, but the focus has shifted to high quality pizza and homemade ice cream from the meals done in the old space. This space is new, long and narrow, with plenty of seating. We were there a little early - 5:30 or so - on a Wednesday and there were plenty of tables. In fact, there were still plenty of tables when we left an hour later. Admittedly that's not exactly a high traffic night, or time, for a restaurant, but it's good to know you can get a table when you want one if you play your cards right.

Fifty-Fifty has their own unique take on pizza. I've seen it described as traditional, meaning like the ones made in Napoli, but I think I must disagree. It's closer to that style than any American style, but I personally think Nostrana and Ken's Artisan Pizza are closer to what is typically Napolitano - that could just be me. That's not to say it's not good - it most assuredly is.

We decided to get two. For us this is practically a must because the first one we will always get is the classic margherita. So what next? You can see the menu at the link above - they all looked good. What we decided on isn't on the menu at the moment; it had fennel sausage, kale, and mozzarella. I wasn't sold it would be a good combination, but fennel sausage intrigued me.

Lovely's crust is very good. It's not as chewy as some, not as thick as others, but it has very good flavor and a crunch to the edges that isn't too much, meaning it's not dry and overdone. The sauce is absolutely excellent - you can taste the freshness of the tomatoes. There is also plenty of it, which we both love (and yes, I realize this is decidedly un-Italian - don't care). The mozzarella on both pizzas was very good, very fresh, and there was a nice drizzle of olive oil at some point in the layering that added another element of flavor.

The margherita was fantastic. The freshness of all the ingredients and the boldness of the flavors working in harmony really stood out. I'd eat this every day if I could. The kale and sausage was also very good. I wasn't sure about the kale, but the nuttiness from the leaves when roasted really made a nice impact on the overall flavor and the fennel sausage added a touch of savory and salty that was very pleasing. I didn't think I would like this nearly as much as the margherita, but it was fantastic. Absolutely would get again...but then again, there are others to try!

We made a point of saving room for dessert because we had heard good things about their ice cream. (Just ignore the fact we had Sugar Cube cupcakes already in the car...) Unfortunately the chocolate chip cookie dough was sold out (sad!), so we got a scoop each of the malted milk ball and the salted caramel. And wow...just wow. This might be some of the best ice cream I've had, and I like myself some ice cream.

The malted milk ball ice cream tasted, literally, like a melted Whopper. I loved these things as a kid - not so much Whoppers specifically anymore, but I like the flavor combination - and this was a flashback to then. On top of the excellent flavor profile the vanilla ice cream itself was very smooth and creamy, almost luxurious. The salted caramel was heavenly... We both agreed we'd go back just for ice cream, even if the pizza was bad - which it wasn't at all. In fact while we were there at least one couple came in just for a cone to go. Right now they are open just for dinner, but I believe they will be open on weekend afternoons in the summer for ice cream at least, if not for meals. And it's completely worth it.

My only complaint about the whole dinner is the booths are wooden benches and they are quite hard. If that's the only issue, you know there is no reason to not give it a visit. Good pizza, nice atmosphere, and fantastic ice cream - lovely indeed.