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Prep time
25 minutes
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Cook time
5 minutes
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Serves
3-4
Author Notes
Japanese mochis might be the most well-known type of sticky dough dessert, but let me tell you about a sleeper hit Chinese cousin of mochi called muah chee. Just like mochi, it’s made from a glutinous rice dough, but is slightly different in how it's cooked and served, resulting in a dish that is supple and tender just like the best mochis, but is a lot easier and less fussy to make than any traditional ones.
All you need for a muah chee dough is three ingredients — glutinous rice flour, sugar, and water. Just knead it into a dough and press it out into 3-inch discs. Then, a mere 3 minutes in a roiling pot of boiling water and these dough discs are done!
Traditionally, muah chees are topped with crushed peanuts, black sesame or a combination of the two. Whenever I order it at restaurants or make it at home, I usually opt for the combo, melding the nutty sweetness of the peanuts and the fragrance from the sesame seeds. But this time, I made mine a bit extra with a third nutty flavor — pistachios, adding an element of nutty surprise.
You can take your pick with the toppings, but whichever nuts you choose, just toast or roast them until golden brown, then blitz them in a food processor with sugar and salt to make a sweet, sandy crumble. Then as the muah chee discs are done boiling in the pot, you can fish them out and bury them in all the crushed nuts for a riotously nutty dessert with a soft and chewy mochi-like base.
Oh, and when you’re done, don’t forget to inhale all that sweet, nutty crumble that’s left on your plate! —Jun
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Ingredients
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½ cups
(~80g) peanuts
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½ cups
(~80g) pistachios
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½ cups
(~80g) black sesame
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½ cups
(100g) granulated sugar, divided
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1 teaspoon
(5g) kosher salt, divided
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1 cup
(120g) glutinous rice flour or mochiko flour, plus more for dusting
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2 tablespoons
(25g) caster sugar
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¾ cups
(180ml) water
Directions
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Heat an oven to 320°F (160°C). Then put the peanuts, pistachios, and black sesame onto baking trays (ideally separate ones, but you can spread them out on different areas of the same tray if needed). Roast the nuts for 15 minutes until golden brown, then take them out of the oven and cool for 5 minutes.
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Divide the granulated sugar and salt into 3 equal portions. In a food processor or blender, add the peanuts, along with a portion of sugar and salt. Pulse for 10-15 seconds until sandy. (Careful not to overblend it as it’ll turn into a paste the more you blend.) Repeat with the pistachios and black sesame to get three different crumbles.
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For the dough, combine the glutinous rice flour and caster sugar in a bowl. Then, heat the water up in a small pot or saucepan until it just starts to steam, then pour it into the bowl. Stir everything together with a spatula until a slightly tacky dough forms and no flour lumps remain. Dust your hands with glutinous rice flour, and knead everything together into a single dough. If the dough is too sticky, or doesn’t come together, adjust with glutinous rice flour or water as necessary.
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Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces (approximately 1.4 oz. (40g) each) and roll them into balls. Dust your palms with flour, and press out each dough piece between your palms, and use your fingers to further press and stretch it into 3-inch discs.
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Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
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Here’s where you’ll need to work quickly as the mochis are best served right as they’re done cooking. So, spread a tablespoon of peanut crumble on the bottom of each of your serving plates. Then, in 2-3 batches, boil the dough discs in the water for around 3 minutes in total. (They should start to float around the 2-2½ minute mark, at which point you’ll cook it for another 30 seconds.) When the dough is done cooking, fish them out of the water one at a time and lay it out on the peanut crumble. Top with all three of the peanut, pistachio, and sesame crumble, and serve!
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