kruizing with kikukat: March 2018

Monday, March 26, 2018

Mochi Balls

Spring break is just about over. It's been quite cold and damp, but something tells me it is like this most every year. This year just seems a lot colder than previous years. I spent most of my break wearing socks in the house.

This break was not without some fun. I went out with two friends. One of them lives here, but our schedules are usually out of sync, so breaks are the only time we can have lunch. And I was honored he chose to spend his only free lunch in Hilo with me.

My other friend outing was a nice breakfast with Dee. Dee lives on another island, but she came home to spend some time with her mother. Dee usually makes a quick stop to see me when she is back, but it was really nice to sit down with her and catch up. I guess she has forgiven me for nearly hosting her demise, although I maintain my innocence since things were beyond my control (While taking a shower at my apartment, she slipped and fell. That same evening, she got a reaction from gulf rock shrimp which we had for dinner.). And in case anyone is wondering, I ate the same shrimp and did not have any reaction. Shit, maybe I shouldn't have brought it up again.

The other fun event of my break was getting together with a few friends. One of my friends brought back a bottle of sake from her recent trip to Japan and wanted to share it. Since she was sharing sake, I decided to make a few things to nibble on (I cannot drink without having snacks). Everyone must have been thinking the same thing because we ended up with tons of food.

The Keeper brought a tray of baked salmon, which I hope to replicate when D1 comes home. We also had Indian food, Vietnamese food, and a lovely local goat cheese with herbs. I made a cheesecake in the Instant Pot because one of my friends was intrigued by the idea. I wanted her to taste it for herself .

Since sake was one of the reasons for us getting together, I thought a Japanese-ish dessert would be a good match. My first thought was to make andagi since I was already planning to deep fry won ton. Nakaz had been experimenting with andagi the previous week, so andagi was fresh in my mind. And then I remembered fried mochi balls.

Fried mochi balls look like andagi, but because they are made with mochiko (glutinous rice flour), they are dense and chewy instead of cake-like. The stiff dough contains a moderate amount of sugar, so there is no need to roll the fried balls in additional sugar. These mochi balls are similar to cascaron (Filipino fried mochi, often served in multiples on skewers), but they are crispy on the outside. Unlike other deep fried foods, these mochi balls stay crispy for a long time. It turned out to be a good choice. At the end of the evening, the mochi balls were still crispy.