I first learned of the deliciousness that is butter mochi while in Hawaii. I was driving around in the middle of nowhere by myself and I happened upon a little general store, which had basic convenience food, along with a couple of Hawaiian snacks, like poke (pronounced “poke-ee” or “poke-eh”, a mixture of chunks of raw tuna, sea salt, seaweed and sometimes other stuff). But my eye fell on squares of what looked like squishy pieces of yellow cake sitting wrapped in plastic right next to the cash register. A little hand lettered sign next to them said “butter mochi”. I bought one, sat in my little rental car by the ocean, and took a bite. It had a glutenous texture, but tasted of butter and eggs and vanilla. It was unbelievably good.
I had read about butter mochi in one of my favorite cookbooks, The Food of Paradise, by Rachel Laudan, which I bought to learn more about Hawaiian food before I went there (and from which the recipe below is adapted). Butter mochi is essentially a kind of cake made with coconut milk and sweet rice flour, plus butter and eggs. Laudan suspects that the origins of butter mochi may be a Filipino dish called bibingka (a festival food that includes sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, butter, and coconut), which in turn was likely influenced by the Portuguese. A real bit of fusion cuisine, made up before that stuff was trendy.
A friend of mine had a sushi rolling housewarming party (best party idea ever!) and I brought butter mochi as my contribution. It served the whole party (about 15 people) with lots of leftovers. Look for sweet rice flour (mochiko) in Asian markets. (I carried 4 boxes of Koda Farms mochiko home from Hawaii before figuring out that I can get it around here.)
Koda Farms Sweet Rice Flour
Butter Mochi - looks like yellow cake, tastes like heaven
Special Equipment: a 9 by 13-inch baking pan
Ingredients:
3 cups sweet rice flour (mochiko)
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
5 eggs
3 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup butter (one stick/4 ounces), melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Lightly spray the baking pan with cooking spray.
- Whisk the rice flour, baking soda powder, and sugar in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs, coconut milk, butter, and vanilla extract, whisking until eggs are fully incorporated into the coconut milk mixture.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for an hour and 30 minutes, or until the butter mochi is golden brown and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool completely. Cut into small squares and serve.
21 comments
Ishkadebble Dec 8, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Oh my! What a marvelous looking cake! And it is gluten free? Thank you so much! I can not wait to get some coconut milk so I can make this cake. Sigh. Happy happy day.
Kevin Dec 8, 2008 at 10:16 pm
This does sound interesting. I am going to have to try it.
megan Dec 8, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Yes! Apparently, sweet rice flour is gluten-free! Who knew! http://www.csaceliacs.org/gluten_grains.php
Diana Dec 9, 2008 at 11:01 am
That looks *so* amazing Megan. That’s going in my recipe file (along with your entire site
and I can’t wait to try it. We should ask Eli and Gloria about ‘bibingka’ next time we see them. Unless you already have :]. xo
sivan harlap Dec 9, 2008 at 12:15 pm
omg! can’t wait to try this one!! coconut, vanilla, butter and sweet rice. holy moly, that sounds good! i may just have to sprinkle some sea salt flakes on top before baking. salted sweets are my fave. x
megan Dec 9, 2008 at 5:01 pm
good idea Sivan! you can also make a chocolate version – stir in a bit of cocoa or melted chocolate….that would be awesome with sea salt on top! or coffee flavored….mmmmm
Carol Dec 9, 2008 at 5:05 pm
The tastes and smells of the islands really sound appealing as I sit here freezing in Korea. Can’t wait to get home to try this!
Marc @ NoRecipes Dec 9, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Wow, I’m fascinated by this. When you say it had a glutinous texture, was it chewy like mochi? Sounds simple enough to make, so I think I’ll just have to give this one a try.
megan Dec 9, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Hi Marc! Yes – it totally has the same texture as mochi – soft, squishy, chewy – not cake-like at all in texture – but it tastes like yellow cake.
The Duo Dishes Dec 10, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Also intrigued by the texture. Sounds like a field day for the tastebuds!
gaga Dec 12, 2008 at 1:14 am
I used to love this as a kid and haven’t had it in ages! Thanks for sharing this and reminding me how much I like it.
Destin Layne Dec 13, 2008 at 9:14 pm
another winner megs…sounds divine. reading this made me think of a time years ago was in Hawaii and my friends living there made poke for us. it was incredible and of course so fresh, my mouth still waters when i think of it. would love to see you post a poke recipe sometime
katie Feb 2, 2009 at 4:55 pm
this is how i learned about butter mochi, well sort off. This is how my sister learned about butter mochi, and therefore myself by proxy. She said there was a small business there run by a husband and wife.
We have been eating mochi for a while, but not butter. Butter is really good. I think another island favorite is Haupia – a coconut pudding.
sivan harlap Mar 3, 2009 at 11:13 am
okay, so i finally bought some koda farms sweet rice flour!! shouldn’t be too long before i make this yummy cake. ill let you know how it goes.
i also have 2 bananas getting nice and brown on the kitchen table. maybe you have an easy and delicious banana bread recipe up your sleeve you wanna share…?!
megan Mar 3, 2009 at 3:13 pm
OK Sivan – I have an idea for your sweet rice flour and your bananas. Why not make a banana butter mochi? Puree your bananas with some of the coconut milk, add additional coconut milk to make 3 cups total (banana puree/coconut milk) and then make the rest of the recipe. It might work! Would be really nice topped with some candied, salted walnuts, no?
sivan harlap Mar 3, 2009 at 3:50 pm
I totes thought of doing something like that! but I think I wanna go traditional first. banana bread is Miles fave, Im gonna surprise him with it today! I’ll def try this when i make the mochi if i have bananas around
katiek @ kitchensidecar Apr 14, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I am thinking about making mochi cookies…
I am tickled by the idea of having hand held mochi that is crispy on all sides.
I just made black sesame daifuku and have some leftover flour. Do you have any thoughts as to how I would approach a cookie?
megan (brooklyn farmhouse) Apr 15, 2009 at 10:47 am
Katie, I would probably just start with a basic cookie recipe – I’m thinking maybe a good chocolate chip cookie recipe w/o the chips – and just substitute equal amounts of rice flour for the regular flour and see what happens. I’m wondering, though, if you’d have to add an additional egg or liquid though? Let me know how it turns out, I like the sound of rice flour cookies – super chewy yet crispy on the edges – YUM.
Emma Apr 24, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I was wondering, it says baking powder in the ingredient list but baking soda in the directions, which is the correct one?
megan Apr 24, 2009 at 3:49 pm
wow emma, thanks for the catch! it’s baking powder. baking powder all around. fixing recipe now…
Becky Boutch Aug 18, 2010 at 5:25 pm
I am so excited to find this! I am invited to a luau-style party given by a Hawaiian friend here on the mainland. She asked me to bring a dish, and I had coconut cake in mind. While browsing recipes, I came across this one, and thought that while it is not as “sexy” as a coconut layer cake, sounds both easier and more authentic! I look forward to trying it.
P.S. In response to the cookie question – I have a friend who made cookies with brown rice flour for a food science project and they came out very good. She just subbed it 1:1 for the regular flour with no adjustments. The sweet rice flour is more sticky, so may produce a different texture.
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