Coconuct and Mango Mochi Rice Cakes

People who know me personally know that there’s nothing I love more than making desserts. As much as I love baking pies and pastries, I often forget how fun it is to make Asian desserts. One of the most popular Asian desserts is the mochi rice cake, also known as sticky rice cakes. Although it is often thought of as a Japanese dessert, sticky rice is one of the most common desserts in East and South East Asia. Each country has its own version of sticky rice cakes made with unique fillings of local ingredients. Sticky rice is also eaten as a savory meal in Asia. As much as I love the humble Taiwanese traditional mochi cakes coated in sweet peanut powder, the famous Hong Kong coconut mango mochi cakes are my favorite. Not only are they very refreshing with the fresh fruit filling, they’re also really fun and easy to make. (Makes 16 bite-size rice cakes)

Ingredients:

For the batter:

1 cup sticky rice flour

4 Tbsp. cornstarch

³⁄₄ cup confectioner’s sugar

¹⁄₂ cup coconut milk (canned)

¹⁄₃ cup whole milk

4 tsp. melted coconut oil or melted butter

For the filling:

1 to 2 mangos (depending on size)

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar 

For the coating:

¹⁄₃ cup desiccated coconut

¹⁄₄ cup confectioner’s sugar 

Direction:

Start by sifting together the sticky rice flour, cornstarch, and confectioner’s sugar. Sticky rice flour is also called sweet rice flour or glutenous rice flour. You can find these at local specialty food stores and obviously at the Asian grocery store if there’s one near you.

Whisk in coconut milk and whole milk. Mix until there are no more lumps. Try to go for the full fat for both kinds of milk, which will give your mochi a much richer taste. I also find that the light coconut milk tends to have a bitter taste. Then mix in the melted coconut oil.

Transfer the batter into a shallow bowl so it will cook evenly. On high heat, steam the batter for 20 minutes.

Use a chopstick or a spatula to stir the cooked batter for one to two minutes. The batter will become stickier as you stir it. Let it cool for 20 minutes so it will be easier to handle.

While you’re waiting for the batter to cool down, cut the mango into bite-size cubes. Toss the cubes in the granulated sugar. You can also swap out the mango with kiwi, strawberries and pretty much any fruit you like. If the fruit is sweet enough, you can also cut the amount of granulated sugar if you like.

Divide the mochi batter into even pieces. The mochi will be very sticky, make sure you work with wet hands. 

Flatten the mochi in your palm and fill the mango cube in the center. Wrap it up tightly and toss it in the desiccated coconut and confectioner’s sugar mixture.

Chill it in the refrigerator for an hour before serving, which allows the flavors to infuse. These are best served the day when you make them, but they can keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about three days.

Strawberry filling mochi rice cake.

More Asian desserts: Coconut Moon Cake