Beko Mochi Rice Cakes

Ease:: Simple
Serves:: 3-4
Prep time:: 20 minutes
Cook time:: 10 minutes
Total time:: 30 minutes

Celebrate Children’s Day like they do in Hokkaido. Normally kashiwa mochi would be eaten for Children’s Day, but not in Hokkaido.

Ingredients

**for the brown dough:**

70g rice flour

40g brown sugar

60ml water

**for the white dough:**

70g rice flour

20g brown sugar

60ml water

Method

Prepare the brown dough: Put 40g brown sugar in a bowl and pour in 60ml of boiling water. Mix until the sugar is dissolved, then add 70g rice flour. Mix well. Cover with some plastic wrap and then microwave for 1 minute.

Knead the dough: Remove from the microwave and knead the dough. You may need to add a little more water or rice flour as necessary to form a soft smooth dough. Place aside.

Prepare the white dough: Repeat the previous steps with the white dough ingredients.

Combine 2 doughs: Once both doughs have been made, roll each into a long cylinder long about an inch in diameter. Take both logs and twist them around each other in an even fashion to make a single log. Press the log together to combine the two doughs. Cut into 12 even sized pieces.

Form the mochi rice cakes: With each piece, mould by hand into an oval or egg shape. Press flat and then with a toothpick or knife make some marks in the pattern of veins on a leaf. Start by making a long single mark in the middle, and then put branching marks coming off the middle mark diagonally to resemble a vein on each side of the mark.

Steam the mochi rice cakes: Last, place each formed mochi on a small square of parchment paper. Prepare a steamer with boiling water in the bottom, and steam each mochi for about 10 minutes. When finished enjoy cool or warm.