Japanese people eat a lot of mochi on New Years, and although the typical お雑煮 are super good, it kind of gets tiring just eating mochi one way. So here’s a version of mochi kinchaku with cheese 🧀 kinchaku in Japanese means pouch, and the food mochi-kinchaku gets its name from looking like a pouch!
Notes/ Tips: Mirin can be substituted by sake.
I used 6 tbsp of all seasonings but I think 4 would probably be sufficient.
The flavor is quite strong! You might want to water down the sauce a bit if you’re not a big fan of strong flavors.
Be careful not to rip the aburaage when stuffing!
Using pasta instead of toothpick is kind of useful and cool. They’re biodegradable and edible.
Ready in: 10
Serves: 3 people
Difficulty: Easy
INGREDIENTS
3 mochi (I use what’s called 切り餅, a rectangular instant mochi, but any mochi you can find will do)]
3 aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch? )
3 slices of cheese (any cheese of your preference is okay! I used mild cheddar)
*6 tbsp mirin
*6 tbsp soy sauce
*6 tbsp sugar
PREP
Have a medium sized pot ready
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Boil some water. Pour the boiled water on the aburaage (this process is called 油抜き, and it takes off the excess oil in aburaage so that it will absorb more flavor when cooking)
2. Flatten the aburaage using chopsticks or something (peep my nails)
3. Cut up all the ingredients into 2
4. Stuff mochi and cheese into aburaage
5. Seal with toothpick (or pasta)
6. Mix up all the seasonings (in *) and put in a pot on medium heat
7. Put in all the mochi-kinchaku and put a lid on. Leave for 3 min.
8. Flip, adjust to low heat, and leave for 2 more min
9. Done!
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