Joanne's Easy Bake: Easy Black Sesame Mochi (Loh Mai Chi)

Joanne's Easy Bake: Easy Black Sesame Mochi (Loh Mai Chi): When I was a kid, mom used to get these mochi fresh from the wet market for me every morning. They remain my favorite and I h...

Easy Black Sesame Mochi (Loh Mai Chi)

When I was a kid, mom used to get these mochi fresh from the wet market for me every morning. They remain my favorite and I had always been looking to buy them from the bakery here. Unfortunately, they are either not fresh or too sweet for my sweet tooth. I accidentally stumbled upon this idea when I did not know what to do with my left over 'ping pei' moon cake skin.

Ingredients for mochi:-

250 g skim milk

70 g glutinous rice flour

50 g rice flour

20 g all-purpose flour

10 g canola oil

40 g condensed milk

50 g granulated sugar

½ cup cooked glutinous rice flour (guo fun)

1 teaspoon canola oil for greasing the plate

Method:-

1. Sieve glutinous rice flour, rice flour and all-purpose flour into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and whisk to combine.

2. Add milk in two portions and whisk to combine. Then add condensed milk and whisk to combine. Lastly, add canola oil to mixture and whisk to combine to make a thick batter.

3. Lightly brush a 2” deep by 8” wide, heat proof plate all over with canola oil or use any deep heat proof plate that will fit your steamer. Strain the batter through a sieve into the prepared deep plate to remove lumps.

4. Place plate in a steamer and steam on high heat for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

5. Remove from heat and let cool until it is slightly warm.  Put on a pair of food safe gloves, scrape and loosen custard from plate, and knead custard until it becomes a smooth and shiny lump of dough. Form into a log and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use.

6. Meanwhile prepare ‘guo fun’ by frying glutinous rice flour in a clean frying pan for 10-15 minutes until flour is slightly yellowish. Dish out into a bowl and let it cool before using.

Ingredients for the black sesame filling:-

1 cup coarsely ground black sesame

3 tablespoons pure peanut butter

3 tablespoon granulated sugar

Method:-

Mix all the above ingredients together in a bowl.

How to form mochi:-

1. Put on a pair of food safe gloves before handling the dough. Divide and weigh the dough into 40g each. Form into a round ball. Set aside onto a plate lined with plastic food wrap until all the dough is divided and weighted completely.

2. Roll out each dough portion in between two sheets of plastic food wrap into 1/8 of an inch thick. Cupped your palm and place the flattened dough in your palm forming a shallow cup. 

3. Spoon approximately one and a half tablespoons of the black sesame filling into the center of the dough. Gather the edge of the dough with your other hand and pinch as you close the edge. If filling spills out as you gather the edge, gently press and push the filling into the center with the thumb of your hand that is holding the pastry. Close the opening and form into a round ball.

4. Dip the ball of mochi into the bowl of 'guo fun' to coat the mochi completely. Shake of extra 'guo fun' and place mochi on a plate to serve. Enjoy with your loved ones; be a listener and don't talk while you are eating mochi...danger of choking!!! They are so good, so let others do the talking :)))

*These mochi freeze well or you may refrigerate in a covered container for two days.

Joanne's Easy Bake: Hello Kitty Snow Skin Moon Cakes

Joanne's Easy Bake: Hello Kitty Snow Skin Moon Cakes: Hello Kitty Moon Cakes with Black Bean Filling - Red food coloring added for pink effect. Using a different mold for variety. Mo...

Joanne's Easy Bake: Milk Custard Snow Skin Moon Cakes

Joanne's Easy Bake: Milk Custard Snow Skin Moon Cakes: Snow Skin Moon Cakes with Milk Custard Fillings. Utensils needed for making Snow Skin Moon Cakes- pastry brush, small rolling pin, m...

Milk Custard Snow Skin Moon Cakes

Snow Skin Moon Cakes with Milk Custard Fillings.

Utensils needed for making Snow Skin Moon Cakes- pastry brush, small rolling pin, moon cake mold and plastic knife.

Divide and weigh the skin dough and filling dough into individual balls.

The inside of a Milk Custard Snow Skin Moon Cake.

Erik and Jonathan love milk custard (lai wong) and whenever we go out for dim sum, the meal will never be complete without 'lai wong bau'! I searched high and low for a 'lai wong' recipe to improvise this Milk Custard Snow Skin Moon Cake. Give it a try if you are also a 'lai wong' lover and without a doubt, I love it too!

Milk Custard Snow Skin Moon Cakes

Recipe for the Milk Custard (lai wong) Filling

Ingredients:-

60 g Bird’s Eye Custard Powder

40 g Carnation Skim Milk Powder

45 g granulated sugar

70 g full cream Carnation Evaporated Milk

110 g Aroy-D coconut milk

25 g melted unsalted butter

1 medium egg

1 teaspoon canola oil for greasing the steaming plate

Method:-

1. Place custard power, milk powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.

2. Add evaporated milk and coconut milk to dry mixture. Whisk to form a smooth batter without lumps.

3. Lightly whisk egg in a separate bowl. Then add to batter.

4. Lastly add melted butter (must be added last).

5. Lightly grease  a 2” deep by 8” wide heat proof plate with canola oil, strain batter into plate to remove any remaining lumps and place in a steamer. Steam on high for 8 – 10 minutes until toothpick inserted into custard comes out clean.

6. Remove from steamer and let cool until it is warm to touch. 

7. Put on a pair of food safe gloves, scrape custard from plate and knead until it forms a smooth and shiny dough. Form into a log shape and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill in fridge until ready to use when skin dough is ready.

8. When skin dough is ready, remove chilled filling dough from fridge, weigh and divide into portions of 30 g each. Roll each portion into a ball. Now you are ready to wrap the filling with the skin dough.

*Please refer to the Hello Kitty Snow Skin Moon Cakes in this blog for the dough recipe and how to form the moon cakes.

*This filling freezes well for at least 2 weeks! So make ahead and enjoy your moon sighting over a cuppa tea!*

*Milk custard recipe is adapted from SiuKitchen.

Hello Kitty Snow Skin Moon Cakes

Hello Kitty Moon Cakes with Black Bean Filling - Red food coloring added for pink effect.

Using a different mold for variety.

Moon Cake Molds.

My friend, Katrina, loves making sweets (that are not too sweet) and cooking for her family and has asked if I could share this in time for the coming Mid-Autumn Festival. This might be a bit intimidating for any beginner, but once you have tried it, you will not regret because they taste really fresh and good if you make them yourself!

Recipe for the Black Bean Filling

Ingredients:-

240 g black beans

80 g sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

10 g canola oil

2 tablespoons wheat starch

Method:-

1. Wash and soak black beans for at least 3 hours.

2. Drain and place beans and baking soda into a heavy pot and add enough water to cover the beans with ¼ inch water over the top. Bring to boil and lower heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and cover pot with lid and let sit for another 30 minutes.

3. Drain off any excess water and place cooked beans in a food processor. Add sugar and continue to blend until beans becomes a fine paste.

4. Remove from food processor and place the bean paste into a clean frying pan. Add canola oil to paste and fry in low heat until bean paste is dry. 

5. Add wheat starch and fry for another 10 minutes.

Remove from pan and place in a large mixing bowl. 

6. When it is cool enough to touch without burning your hands, put on a pair of food safe gloves and knead paste until it becomes smooth and shiny. Form into a log and wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

7. Remove bean log from the fridge when moon cake skin is ready, divide and measure into 30 g portions each. Form and roll each portion into a ball. 

Recipe for the Snow Skin

Ingredients:-

250 g skim milk

70 g glutinous rice flour

50 g rice flour

20 g all-purpose flour

10 g canola oil

40 g condensed milk

50 g granulated sugar

½ cup cooked glutinous rice flour (guo fun)

1 teaspoon canola oil for greasing the plate

Method:-

1. Sieve glutinous rice flour, rice flour and all-purpose flour into a large mixing bowl.

Add sugar and whisk to combine.

2. Add milk in two portions and whisk to combine. Then add condensed milk and whisk to combine.

Lastly, add canola oil to mixture and whisk to combine to make a thick batter.

3. Lightly brush a 2” deep by 8” wide, heat proof plate all over with canola oil or use any deep heat proof plate that will fit your steamer. Strain the batter through a sieve into the prepared deep plate to remove lumps. 

4. Place plate in a steamer and steam on high heat for 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

5. Remove from heat and let cool until it is slightly warm.  Put on a pair of food safe gloves, scrape and loosen custard from plate, and knead custard until it becomes a smooth and shiny lump of dough. Form into a log and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use.

6. Meanwhile prepare ‘guo fun’ by frying glutinous rice flour in a clean frying pan for 10-15 minutes until flour is slightly yellowish. Dish out into a bowl and cool before using.

How to form moon cake:-

1. Remove skin dough from the fridge, divide and measure dough into portions of 20 g each and form each portion into ball shape. 

2. Roll out and flatten each portion using a rolling pin and by placing each portion in between two sheets of cling wrap.

3. Wrap each portion of the black bean filling with the flattened skin dough and form into a smooth round dough. 

4. Dip the stuffed dough into the bowl of ‘guo fun’.

5. Lightly brush the moon cake mold with ‘guo fun’and gently press the stuffed dough into the mold. 

6. Smooth out the base and press handle to release the dough onto a flat surface. Transfer to a plate lined with plastic wrap and chill before serving.

They freeze well and you just have to defrost in the refrigerator (not at room temperature to prevent condensation) before serving.

Enjoy with your family and friends on a dreamy moonlit night!

*Tip: brush the mold with ‘guo fun’ and shake off any excess flour every time before forming the next cake to ensure easy release of the cake.

*Snow skin recipe adapted from SiuKitchen*