Mochi Mochi

Rice bread

Bread made with cooked rice was introduced in the Asahi Newspaper (a major newspaper in Japan) two years ago and caused a sensation among bread lovers. I was intrigued with how it tasted but it is not sold in US, at least not in our area so I looked for recipes. I came cross the cook book written by Kazumi Yamada whose daughter experimented with using leftover cooked rice to made bread for her family and it was a hit. Though they are not professional bakers, their love for making  bread ended up in newspapers and Yamada wrote a cook book about cooked rice bread. You can purchase her homemade breads at Dossari Ichi (どっさり市) in Shizuoka, Japan.     

Unfortunately this is not a gluten-free recipe since you still have to use bread flour in it. But using cooked rice (often left over rice) not rice flour makes economical sense and the bread turned out mochi mochi (もちもち), a Japanese word that describe food texture or skin condition but not easy to translate-springy, bouncy, moist and soft or all three of these combined which appeals to many Japanese.

All the recipes in the cook book are relatively simple and the bread machine does the hard part. I made basic bread first which I was not impressed and moved to chocolate variety with great success. You can create your own version of mochi mochi bread.

Ingredients for basic white bread-special equipment-bread machine

Note: If you are using a Japanese bread machine then cut this recipe in half.

• Cooked rice 200g –Soft cooked is better for this.
• Warm water 200g
• Milk 80g
• Bread flour 500g
• Sugar 50g
• Salt 1 teaspoon or 6g 
• Unsalted butter 30g
• Dry yeast 1 packet or 7g

1. Put cooked rice in bread machine pan then water. Wait for 10 or more minutes for the rice to soften.
2. Add milk, bread flour, sugar, salt, butter and finally if your machine has yeast dispenser, yeast go in there otherwise sprinkle the yeast over flour. 
3. Set machine to rapid bake and go play.
4. After it’s done, remove from pan and cool for 5 minutes or so then put the still-warm bread in a plastic bag- the steam will moisten the bread further.

Ingredients for double chocolate bread

• Cooked rice 200g
• Warm water 200g
• Milk 50g
• Heavy cream 50g
• Bread flour 500g
• Unsweetened pure cocoa 20g
• Sugar 60g
• Salt 1 teaspoon or 6g
• Unsalted butter 30g
• Dry yeast 1 packet or 7 g
• Mini chocolate chips and white chocolate chips (I did not have white chips so used butterscotch)

1. Put all ingredients except chocolate chips as basic bread above.
2. Set machine for dough only cycle.
3. When the dough is done, take out of machine and roll out to flat sheet.
4. Cut into 12 or so strips. Even though I didn’t do it this time, if you cut them into shallow parabolic shapes, it makes a prettier roll when done.
5. Top with chocolate chips and roll up like making cinnamon rolls.
6. Put in pan and loosely cover. Let rise in a warm place until about doubled in size.
7. Pre-heat oven to 150 C / 302 F.
8. Bake for 6 minutes then cover with aluminum foil and bake 13 minutes more.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I really like to dress up the table this time of year.

 

This is the Chinese characters for “Hope”

This was one of my favorite presents from a friend.

My cute 3 foot Santa!

The Thursday before Christmas it was cold and there was lots of frost. When the wind blew it was like snowflakes.

Wishing you a very happy New Year!