seiko's home-made mochi

what a crazy revelation THIS is - fresh, home-made mochi, baked in the sun oven (if you don't have a sun oven, a regular oven will do). mochi is a traditional japanese treat made from rice and red beans - a perfect-protein snack!

thanks to our friend seiko for sharing her recipe!

THIS RECIPE MAKES ENOUGH FOR TWO MOCHI ROUNDS LIKE THE ONE PICTURED - we have two solar cookers, so we get both going at once...if you only have one sun oven, you may have to do one batch at a time. store the second round in the fridge 'til it's ready to go in the oven...it may take a little longer to cook.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bag sweet white rice flour (we use bob's red mill. we tried it with brown rice flour too...it works, but it takes on a  a slightly different, less gooey, more dense texture)

1 can pure coconut milk (not "lite", and with no additives if possible)

1 can (the can from the coconut milk) water

1 can (same can) adzuki bean paste (made previously by cooking 1 part adzuki beans – here again, we use bob's red mill) to 3 parts water in the sun oven with a little raw sugar added - process or mash the cooked beans until they form a smooth paste).

if additional sweetness is desired, a little brown rice syrup or raw sugar could be added to this mixture. we sometimes add a few tablespoons of our jujube butter).

INSTRUCTIONS:

blend everything well in a food processor. pour into TWO parchment-lined round pie pans (for the sun oven, black enamel pots with lids work great) or a 9"x13" rectangular cake pan. bake at 350F for one our, or until shiny on top and a bit crusty-looking around the edges.

best when cooled to room temperature. keeps well in the fridge for a few days. if you have leftovers, mochi can be frozen and used later by steaming or baking in the oven on a cookie sheet with a little olive oil.