1/2cupMochi-toriko (such as potato starch or cornstarch) *2
Instructions
A night before pounding mochi
Wash the rice gently under running water, changing and draining the water a few times.
Soak the rice in the large bowl with plenty water overnight.
On the following day
Drain the soaking water.
Start boiling water in a pot. *3
Prepare a bamboo steamer with lining a tightly squeezed wet kitchen cloth on the bottom of the bamboo steamer.
Place the drained rice over the kitchen cloth making a dent in the centre like a donut shape in order for the steam to evenly and efficiently move around the rice.
Put the prepared steamer over the boiling water in the pot and steam for 30- 45 min.
Turn the heat off and empty the steamed rice into a bread machine. *4
Put the lid on and press "knead" and set for 20 minutes. *5
Remove the mochi dough onto a tray with generous amount of mochi-toriko (potato starch/cornstarch) dusted.
Shape into small mochi balls, or into nice round/rectangle/square shapes and slice it 0.4inch (1cm) thick the next day. *6
Serve with red bean paste, sweet soy bean powder, or with grated daikon and soy sauce. *7
Notes
*1 If you have a scale measure 300g, cup measurements are American cups. *2 This ingredient is not going into mochi but it is used for handling the sticky mochi dough. *3 I used a bamboo steamer method. See other ways to cook in the above post.*4 Some Japanese bread machines have a function to make the entire process. If you have one of those, lucky! Just let the machine do the work.*5 Setting time is an indication only. Each machine is different. When the dough is smooth without any visible rice grains, then it's done.*6 I shaped mine into one small (3-inch, 7.5cm diameter) and one large (4-inch, 10cm diameter) ball for the Kagamimochi.*7 You can eat freshly made mochi with those suggestions or see other recipes using mochi in the post.