Chewy Hawaiian Butter Mochi Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my butter mochi not chewy? ›

Regular rice flour will not give you a chewy texture, so your butter mochi will not be mochi-ee. So make sure to use glutinous rice flour. It really is the most important ingredient for this recipe. You can find this kind of flour in most East Asian stores.

Glutinous Rice Flour

This ingredient is essential for mochi's signature chewy texture.

Butter mochi can last for up to three days left at room temperature. A week in the fridge, or if frozen up to a month. If you freeze the butter mochi to consume simply take them out and put them in the microwave for a minute to defrost.

Butter mochi is a favorite local Hawaiian sweet made of butter, mochiko flour, coconut milk and some kind of other milk (evaporated or whole milk). It's pretty much a coconut custard glutinous rice cake that is chewy and slightly sticky on the inside and crispy on the outside.

There are a few ways to soften hard, leftover mochi. You can try boiling it to help turn the mochi soft again. If that's not an option, you can also create fried mochi, a crunchy, equally delicious option. Of course, microwaving this treat can work too.

Mochi is a type of soft and chewy Japanese rice cake. Traditionally, the process of making mochi involves pounding cooked sweet glutinous rice, called mochigome, until it has a soft, Play-Doh-like texture.

In case you encounter mochi dough after cooking/microwaving that still very wet and not sticky, stretchy, this may be lacking glutinous rice flour to hold it together.

Sprinkle more corn starch on top of the mochi dough, as needed to prevent from sticking. Wait for the dough to cool. Once cooled, spread the mochi dough into a thin layer with a rolling pin. Dust the rolling pin and your hands with corn starch before using to flatten out the dough.

The mochi is air sealed in a wrapper before being put in a box. It is dry mochi so it has a lengthy shelf life and does not require refrigeration to stay edible. Once opened eat the contents within the next couple of days. I would say don't hold on to a box longer than 2 months though, just as a precautionary measure.

To make chewy mochi treats, recipes often call for mochiko, Japanese-style dry-milled glutinous rice flour.

How long should mochi sit before eating? ›

Grab your favorite flavor out of the freezer, wait 1-2 minutes so your My/Mochi can reach its Joyfully Chill potential. Once your My/Mochi is the 'right' level of softness for you, time to snack!

Japanese mochi is much stretchier than any mochi in Hawaii, Kojima shared. She explained this is because when making Japanese mochi they use the key ingredient of mochi rice rather than mochi flour, which is less sticky. The New Year holiday and mochi are a popular combination in many communities.

Butter mochi is probably a descendant of bibingka, a Filipino cake that marks celebrations and is also borne from the magic of rice flour and coconut milk (though sometimes it's casava), butter mochi is now firmly, of Hawaii. In Hawaii, butter mochi is more popular than brownies, though it's baked into similar tins.

Brought to Hawaii by Japanese plantation workers in the 1800's, mochi has a long history dating back to the late 700's. Ancient samurai's would take mochi with them when they journeyed for battle as it was easy to prepare and traveled well.

Pour the ingredients into the prepared baking dish and bake for 45 minutes. You can check the doneness by inserting a toothpick through the mochi, if the toothpick comes out clean, the mochi is done. Cool the mochi in a baking dish on a drying rack. Once cooled to room temperature, cut into squares.

This usually takes about 20 minutes, but can vary. It's better to cook longer to be safe than to undercook– undercooked mochi will not hold its shape.