More Mochi Please!

A while back, I had bought this packet of glutinous rice flour a.k.a. sweet/sticky rice flour and it's been sitting in the pantry for quite time. At one point, I bugged my in-laws to read the directions (since they were written in Chinese!) so we could make Tang Yuan (sweet soup dumplings filled with black sesame paste!), but they kind of ignored my request. They did decide to open the packet and use some of the flour to make something - I can't quite remember what they used it for!
Anyhow, there was still flour left over and I figured I should probably do something with it before it expires next month! So what does one make with glutinous rice flour? MOCHI :) (and of course Tang Yuan, but that discussion will be saved for another day...) Before I go on, you maybe asking what is Mochi. Well, all you really have to know is that it is a type of mildly sweet Japanese rice cake. It's often round, white and filled with some type of paste - generally red bean paste. It's quite sticky and chewy when you bite into it because of the glutinous rice!
Since I had quite a bit of dessicated coconut left over from making coconut milk, I decided to attempt making coconut mochi! I also made homemade red bean paste :). After searching the internet, I learned that the to make mochi, you have to first 'cook' the glutinous rice batter before stuffing it with red bean paste! Some people used a shortcut method to cook it - the microwave! I did it using the traditional steaming method.

MOCHI Recipe

Glutinous rice flour (or you can buy something called Mochiko)
Water
Coconut Milk (for flavor)
Red bean paste (make your own or buy it!)
Dessicated coconut (for dusting mochi in)

I had about 1.5 cups of rice flour to work with. I added bout 1tbsp of coconut milk (but I would add another tbsp for a more intense coconut flavor) to the flour and then gradually added water until the flour mix was batter-like. That is it, it formed into a thick liquid batter. Then I steamed the batter until it is solid. It's very sticky so you should wear plastic food preparation gloves and work with it on saran wrap. Work with it while it is still warm. Spoon out about 1 tablespoon of the sticky cake/dough, form a ball, then flatten it to make a circle. Place your bean paste (this you'll have eyeball it a bit, maybe like a little more than 1 tsp) in the middle and pull the edges of the cake/dough over the paste so that it is wrapped inside of the cake/dough. It's just like making dumplings, only this time you just make it into a slightly flat ball. Plop it into a plate of dessicated coconut, roll it around and viola! you have a mochi. Enjoy on the same day you make it, if possible. Otherwise you can wrap them in saran wrap and save them in the fridge for another day :).

I still need to work on my mochi wrapping skills. Not too bad for a first timer I guess. I was able to make 5 total (one disappeared into my stomach!)