Thursday, February 26, 2009

Look! More Moffles! -1-

Moffles with Matcha Ice Cream and Azuki An (Sweetened Azuki Bean Paste)

Mentaiko (Spicy Pollock Roe) and Shiso(Green Perilla) Moffles

Just a couple more experimental batches to follow my previous moffle post. To make these two types of moffles, I used thin mochi (rice cakes) and VERY thin ones.

Thin rice cakes (back) and Very Thin rice cakes (front)

The dessert moffle in the first photo was made by making plain moffles with the thin rice cakes and topping them with the sweets. The savory variety in the second photo was made with the very thin rice cakes called shabu-shabu mochi, with the filling being sandwiched between them.

FYI, the shabu-shabu mochi is very thinly sliced and named so because it is used for a Japanese hot-pot dish called shabu-shabu. When you eat shabu-shabu, you swish thinly sliced meat or cut vegetables in boiling dashi broth a few times and dip in dipping sauce and eat immediately. To be eaten that way, the rice cake needs to be very thin so that it softens quickly. (This shows you what it looks like when eaten in shabu-shabu.)

Now, here's how I made the savory, sandwich-like moffles.



It's recommended to place one edge of the rice cake on that of the other one. That way, you can prevent the filling oozing out from the gap between the two rice cakes before they become soft and stick to each other.

To be honest, I wasn't too impressed with the dessert moffle above. The cheap matcha ice cream didn't have a good flavor in the first place, and the moffles tasted rather bland. Besides, the moffles turned rather soggy than soft while I was taking the photos. Maybe I should have made them with the shabu-shabu mochi with the azuki an as a filling, then topped them with azuki an and ice cream.

The savory version was pretty good. :D And it looked so cute with the colors of mentaiko and shiso showing through the moffle crust, like this:


I have a couple more ideas of savory versions, hence more moffle posts to come. (Don't know how soon, though.) Oh I wish shabu-shabu mochi was not that expensive!


*** WARNING!! ***
To make moffles, here in Japan we use mochi (rice cake) made by pounding steamed glutinous rice. There is a softer type of rice cake made from mochiko (rice flour) -- the mochi used as daifuku skin. Now, I have never ever seen, heard or read about anyone in Japan making moffles using that softer mochi, and I DO NOT recommend anyone to do so because it may stick to the waffle maker and make a mess. Well, it may not -- but we don't know until someone actually gives it a try.
*********************

P.S. Great news!! I finally managed to open the jars of my two-year-old cucumber pickles! Of course I'm not gonna eat 'em but so happy to have more space in the fridge and more empty jars in the cupboard... Yay!! :D


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13 comments:

Skye Hohmann said...

Those both look really delicious! Now, to start jogging again so I can justify making some myself...

Anonymous said...

I want to make moffles so bad obachan. So bad. So bad that when I come to Japan I'm just going to find a waffle maker and some mochi and those will be the only two things in my dorm.

Anonymous said...

i'm not a big fan of mochi but i'd make these just so i could use the word "moffle". it's a great word!

Pinkity said...

Obachan, those moffles look so crunchy and crispy. Are they? :p It looks absolutely delish!

What about a version with miso glaze? yum!

p/s: A picture of your 2 year old pickle pretty please?

Anonymous said...

Oh be still my heart. I can barely stand looking at those beautiful waffles and ice cream. If I weren't so tired...and done with dinner...and still facing doing the dishes, I would start making moffles. Please keep the inspiration coming, Obachan. Your regular additions here are inspiring.

P.S. have you thought about putting kuri kinton (is that the right name?) inside the moffles instead of sweet beans? Would ume shiso would work too? Maybe some sansho no chirimen?

Anonymous said...

Wow!
You have a great variety of waffles and moffles. I have some ideas for moffle. How about cheese and `itanori'(plate sea weed)? It`s so delicious. Recentry, there are rice cakes with slit at the supermarket, which are not so expensive and convinient.

Anonymous said...

Moffles for lunch today! Hooray, I finally made my first moffles today at lunch and was very happy with the result. At first I wasn't too sure how the rectangle-shaped mochi I had was going to work, if maybe it would be too thick. But it wasn't and it cooked up perfectly. There were some leftover shiitakes in a port wine, shallot and creme fraiche sauce from last night's dinner that I reheated. They were delicious atop the moffle. It made a nice non-meat, light lunch. Thanks, Obachan, for all of your waffle and moffle inspirations.

Serendipity 2017 said...

Hmm, I'm so excited to try this for my 10 yr old son. We've got thick mochi blocks sitting cold somewhere.
It's mendokusai to grill 2 or 3 blocks for after-school snacks.

Can't wait for the hungry boy to come home. Moffles to the rescue!

Anonymous said...

I bought some mochi that says とうきょう きねつき もち on the package. It has small cuts in the sides but not all the way through. I was wondering if it was possible to cut these mochi blocks into thin shabu shabu ones? I tried to cut it after I took it out of the plastic with a regular knife and I ended up with uneven and broken pieces.

obachan said...

Skye Hohmann
Hahaha... You're just like me! ;)

Tindy
Hey, don't forget the filling! :D

Anonymous
Yeah, I love the name, too.

Pinkity
I have to admit that the ones beneath the ice cream was rather soggy...

I would really love something like peanut-miso filling.

Oh, why didn't I think about posting the photo of my pickles?! It would have been hilarious. Too late... When I read your comment, they were already at the bottom of my garbage pail.

Mora
Yeah, kuri kinton is the name (but what it is is actually sweet potato paste with chestnut chunks) and I would definitly love it in the waffles. Ume shiso sounds like a fail-safe idea, but I really wonder how the chirimen would turn out.

Totoro
Yep. Cheese and nori is "the must" combination. I might add a thinly sliced char siu there, too.

Wow, mochi with slit! After I read your comment, I googled and found at least three Japanese bloggers who use that type of mochi for making moffles. Yep, it must be a great idea. Thanks!

Mora
That sounds really nice. I think YOU are full of inspirations.

Megumi's Mumblings
I'm sure your boy loved your delicious moffles. ;)

Ami
I found at least 3 Japanese bloggers who cut those mochi blocks with slit to make moffles. Two of them wrote that it was not too difficult, and one said it broke so easily but the broken pieces would melt and stick to each other to make a perfect moffle. So I guess you don't have to worry... just use the uneven or broken pieces. Take a look at this site. (BTW, this person even invented "Mottart" by baking mochi into tarts. Scroll down the site.)

I'm wondering if microwaving the slitted mochi very, very briefly would make it easier to cut it at the slits... mmmmmm... I've got to give it a try. Maybe this weekend.

Anonymous said...

very interesting. i wonder what would result if you make a modified waffle batter using mochi flour and maybe soda water. probably eggs wouldn't work... a bit of sugar for a sweet moffle and maybe salt for a salty moffle. oh and maybe bits of chocolate nuts dried fruit for a enhanced sweet mochi :) thanks for enlightment hehe

mura

☆Hachiko☆ said...

I decided to give moffles a try using the soft-type savory chinese rice cakes.

.. and it worked! The "mochi" didn't stick to the waffle maker. In fact, it stuck to the wafflemaker even less than my waffles.It's probably worth a try with Japanese mochi although I've yet to try it.

obachan said...

Mura
Mmmmm... You are full of inspirations, aren't you? ;)

Hachiko
Thanks for sharing. Your pioneer spirit might open up a new dimention... :D