Potato Mochi with Shichimi Togarashi Pepper

Author Notes

When I was a teenager, one day my mother 'discovered' a new potato recipe: grated potatoes, cooked in a frying pan, that quickly turned into mochi-like pancake. She got so excited about her discovery she made it for dinner for 3 days in a row.

Her recipe was straightforward: grated potatoes, salt and pepper, nothing more. I like her minimalist recipe, too, but today I added some flour to give it more shape and softness, and finish it with a brush of soy sauce and Shichimi Togarashi pepper.

Shichimi Togarashi ("seven flavor chili pepper") is a Japanese spice mix made of the following (not necessarily 7 ingredients are always used):

ground red chili pepper
poppy seed
dried orange peel
black/white sesame seed
Japanese 'sansho' pepper
hemp seed
shiso (Japanese basel)
nori or aonori (sea vegetable)
ginger
rapeseed
Japanese cooking is not so spicy in general, but shichimi adds refreshing spiciness to the dish. You can find it in Asian grocery stores. If it's not available, you can use cayenne pepper instead.

I hope you'll try this recipe and make it 3 days in a row, too! —Kyoko Ide