[cooking] Mochi!
I made mochi today. Considering that it was my first go at it, it didn't turn out too badly! It was a little too moist, even after the additional cooking time, but some people like their mochi extra sticky, maybe.
The recipe I used called for coconut milk as the main ingredient. As I know not everyone is a fan of coconut (I remember, white_dahlias!), and others might be allergic to it, I want to play around with the recipe to see if I can't substitute the coconut milk for something else. Ideally, I'd like to be able to use a type of fruit juice, but then the consistency of the liquid mixture wouldn't be right. Nectar might be thicker, but then I don't know what the acidity of that would do to the recipe.
Thoughts about the recipe aside, making mochi at home was much cheaper than buying it at the local oriental store. They sell a six pack of taro mochi for around 4-5 dollars. The cost of the ingredients used to make the mochi was around 5 dollars, and the only ingredients I used up were the glutinous rice flour (99 cents) and the coconut milk ($1.35). In addition, the recipe yielded over seventy generous sized pieces. If I can make enough successful adjustments, I would never have to buy mochi again! I could have mochi bake sales!
The photograph above is that of the mochi that didn't get covered in shredded coconut. The rest are smothered with coconut, because I like it lots. I do get the feeling, though, that by the time Monday and I eat all this, we're not going to be craving coconut or mochi for a long, long time.
(The recipe, for anyone who wants to try this.)