Super mochi mochi

Improved cooked rice bread

This might be it! I have been experimenting with the cooked rice bread recipe for a while and I think I achieved near perfection! It’s moist, soft and awfully pale. Though it has almost no nutritional value compared to its whole, 7 or 10 grains dark, chewy and hay like aroma counter parts, many Japanese prefer it that way. Thanks to the bread machine doing the most of work, my part is easy – just two extra steps to reach this super mochi mochi texture! I adore this method better than one that I posted before.

This recipe is like a blank canvas. The possibilities are endless. Just by changing the filling you could make a savory roll or a sweet snack. My husband’s favorite is custard cream filled bread (クリームパン）and my favorite is always savory curry bread (カレーパン) - deep  fried, crusty outside with warm curry filling inside is hearty and satisfying. There is bread called Melon pan  (メロンぱん) which usually does not have melon as one of the ingredients. The name came from the shape; it remotely resembles a cantaloupe melon? Whether there is actually melon in the bread or not it is still quite popular among Japanese. Then there is this sweet azuki bean bread (アンぱん) that is the go-to bread with the older, I mean rather distinguished generation. My friend, who is not that old, at least not at heart, makes incredible sweet azuki bean bread. She gave me her recipe but I don’t know where it is now due to my stupendous disorganization skill. I hope she coincidently sends me the recipe via email.

Ingredients

2 8-1/4 X 4-1/4 loaf pan lined with parchment paper for plain loaf style bread

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper if doing the filled buns

I made both kinds of breads with this so you’ll see each of them in the pictures below.

• Cooked rice 100g
• Water 100g –substitute plain yogurt to give the bread sourdough flavor.
• Milk 20g
• Heavy cream 20g
• Bread flour 250g
• Sugar 25g
• Salt 1/2 teaspoon
• Unsalted butter 1 Tablespoon
• Dry yeast 4g about 1/2 packet

1. Put rice in small sauce pan. Add water and bring to boil. Turn off the heat and cover with lid. Wait for 30 minutes.
2. Put rice in food processer and make loose paste.
3. Set the brad maker to the dough setting. Put the rice, milk, cream, flour, sugar, salt, butter in the pan then sprinkle in the yeast.
4. When the dough is done, turn onto a flat clean surface dusted with flour. Roll out dough with flour-dusted rolling pin to a rectangle of about 10 x 8. Cut into 8 pieces or if making small buns, cut 16 equal parts.
5. Make balls and lay the ball seam side down then cover with clean moist towel and rest for 15 minutes.
6. Roll out the ball of dough to about 7 x 4 oblong shape or about 6 diameter round for filled buns. Picture below is sweet azuki paste.
7. Roll up the dough and put in the prepared loaf pan seam side down or fill with your favorite stuffing then gather the dough together on top, lay on cooking sheet seam side down.
8. Let the dough rise in warm place to double in size. About 40-45minutes.
9. Heat oven to 302 F. Bake for 20 minutes (stuffed dough take 5-7 minutes more). If you want the color to stay white, cover with foil half-way through. For shiny look, brush with an egg yolk and 1-2 tablespoon water or milk mixture on top.
10. Take out from pan and cool it on a wire rack. Keep the bread in a plastic bag after it cools down bit so that it stays moist.

I had a swell time in Utah last weekend. My friend as promised made us a mont blonc cake.Yes! It tasted like one I had in a famous pastry shop in Tokyo.  I didn’t take my big camera with me so the photo doesn’t do it justice but it was amazing!. Oishii (美味しい) was the word that we repeated many times without effort. Thank you so much.My friend who made the cake is on the left.

It was the very first time that I drove a rental car. Although the Garmin GPS my daughter gave me for last Christmas was very helpful, it tried to take us to a wrong but same name store in Las Vegas. It recalculates way too often. Sheesh!  And I don’t want to name anybody (because I can’t) but Utah drivers were awful!. Can’t you see I’m driving at the speed limit?

Snow in front of the Swadee Thai Restaurant

Skate rink at the downtown Marriott

Brunch at the Copper Onion Restaurant

It snowed Sunday. Not frost but actual snow.