This was homemade Warabi-mochi.
I love mochi. Mochi can be made with something other than rice flour, like Warabi-mochi - jelly-like confection made from bracken starch. I have brought commercial
Warabi-mochi from Japan and enjoyed it so much. I would like more. More! Last time when we went to Rockville, we dropped by not only Temari Japanese cafe but also a Japanese grocery store near by. I found Warabi-mochi powder. How could I go back home without it?
I knew J wouldn't be interested in this Warabi-mochi project, so I made some for my breakfast. It was easy very much. Simply cook the flour with water and a few tablespoon of sugar until it gets semi-transparent and very sticky. Then, scoop cooked Warabi-mochi by a spoon and drop it in ice-water to chill and firm up. Sprinkle Kinako, or roasted soy bean power, and eat! It was wonderful. Actually it didn't taste much but had lovely texture. Ridiculously according to the package, 100% of the ingredient was Satsumaimo, or Japanese sweet potatoes. There was no Warabi, or bracken included at all. The package was clear about that, showing a picture of Japanese sweet potatoes as ingredients. But why can the package call itself Warabi-mochi power?! After my brief internet research, it seems a common practice to sell Warabi-mochi power made without Warabi as Warabi-mochi powder. It sounds like a fraud, but I confess I liked the result from the package. Sticky chewy like any kind of mochi. At least the package can proudly call itself Mochi-powder, I believe. Obviously the flavor of Warabi was absent, but based on the truth that real Warabi is rare in Japan these days, I can imagine real Warabi powder is hardly available, especially in the United States as imported goods. So, I will probably buy another package when I go back to the Japanese grocery store.
