Persimmon Mochi

Step 1

Make gelatin whipped cream by following this recipe. Put the whipped cream into a piping bag, keep it in the fridge.

Step 2

Cook 4 tbsps of glutinous rice flour over medium heat for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly, until it smells like popcorn. Set aside to cool down. (We will use this cooked flour to prevent from getting sticky later.)

Step 3

Add 170g milk, 30g cornstarch, 45g sugar, and 100g glutinous rice flour in a bowl. Optionally, add a few drops of orange food coloring to make the mixture orange. Stir with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. (*See Note 1 if you want to use persimmon juice instead of milk. )

Step 4

Cover the bowl with heatproof food wrap, use a toothpick to poke about 12 holes on the food wrap. Steam the mixture over high heat for 30 minutes until fully cooked - Stick a toothpick into the middle of the mochi dough and if it comes out clean, the dough is fully cooked.

Step 5

Take the bowl out from the steamer, put 20g butter on the top of the steamed mochi dough. Wait for a few minutes until the butter is melted.

Step 6

Roughly mix the butter and the mochi dough with a spoon. Transfer the mochi dough and the butter on a nonstick silicone mat, or a working surface covered with plastic food wrap.

Step 7

Once the mochi dough is not too hot to be touched, use your hands to knead the dough until all the butter has been absorbed. You can put non-stick food handling gloves to avoid from getting sticky. (If the dough is still to sticky to be kneaded, wrap up the dough with plastic food wrap, keep the dough in the fridge for 1 hour until it completely cools down. It will be less sticky after it's cooled.)

Step 8

Knead the mochi dough by pulling and folding it for about 5 minutes, until you can pull it as long as your forearm (about 10 inches).

Step 9

Cut the mochi dough into 6 equal portions. Flatten each small dough into 5-inch diameter circles. Cover with plastic food wrap until use.

Step 10

Take a mochi skin, dust some cooked glutinous rice flour on one side, line the mochi skin on a mochi mold (You can also use a soup ladle or small round-shape bowl) with the glutinous rice flour side facing down.

Step 11

Add about 1 tbsp of hachiya persimmon fruit in the middle of the mochi skin, pipe in about 2 tbsps of gelatin whipped cream. Pull the edges of the wrap together to cover the filling, press together the edges to seal well.

Step 12

Pinch off the dough where all the pleats meet, apply some glutinous rice flour, flip the persimmon mochi so that the smooth side is facing up.

Step 13

Place a persimmon leaf on the center of the mochi.

Step 14

Serve immediately. Store leftover mochi in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.