Mochi is the general name of a rice “cake”, i.e. a mash of rice. In ancient times it was a form to preserve leftover cooked rice invented by the Chinese. However, since many centuries already it is made on purpose for making traditional Japanese confections, Wagashi in Japanese. Along the years the name associated most often with a more specific type of sweet, a fragrant rice dough filled with bean spread, which is until these days its most common form, and this Mochi type is named Daifuku meaning big-belly or great-luck. Today Mochi is considered a Japanese New Year’s lucky sweet, a tea time confectionery and a post marriage treat among many other ceremonial affiliations.

The Japanese who adore traditions would use for this recipe specifically glutinous rice, the peel of Yuzu (an East-Asian lemony citrus) and Adzuki beans. Modern recipe variations are made sometimes to the type of beans in the filling, but never to the rest of the recipe nor to its round shape. In this bold yet culturally inappropriate recipe variation we give the traditional ingredients of Mochi a completely Western form as a Swiss roll.

Ingredients

Dry mixture for dough

200 g rice flour
100 g cane sugar (or 150 g if using vinegar instead of the orange and lemon juice)
75 g linseed, ground
10 g baking soda
zest of 2 fragrant oranges (about 25 g)
zest of 4 fragrant lemons (about 25 g)

Wet mixture for dough

50 g water + fresh juice of 4 lemons and 2 oranges
or
200 g water + 80 g apple vinegar

Anko cake filling

^{* You might want to double the quantity of Anko, and keep half of it for another cake.}

250 g dried Adzuki beans, soaked overnight with
1-2 Liters of water

150-200 g cane sugar

Preparation

Cake filling

1. Move the soaked Adzuki beans and water into a deep cooking pot. Keep only enough water to cover the beans completely, with an extra margin of about the width of your thumb (about 1 liter per 250 g of the original dried beans).
2. Bring the cooking pot with the beans and water to a boil, uncovered and on high heat.
3. Reduce the heat to minimum, cover the pot and let it simmer for about 1-2 hours, while steering the beans well from the bottom of the pot every 10-15 minutes. When the beans are soft enough to break easily with the back of your spoon, add the sugar (according to your sweetness preference) and keep steering until all of the sugar melts and starts to caramelize, when you’ll sense a nice smell.
4. Let the Anko filling for the Mochi cake to cool down* to room temperature.
   
   * If you chose to make a larger amount of Anko for future use, pour the amount that you do not use immediately in this recipe while it is still hot into sterilized glass jars and close firm and tight.

Cake dough

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C with a water tray at the bottom, for baking in high moisture.
2. Prepare baking paper on a 28 cm round baking form, or for a roll cake (“Swiss roll”) on a 30×40 rectangular baking tray.
3. In a deep bowl, mix all of the dry cake dough ingredients and the lemon and orange zest.
4. Add into the mixture water and orange&lemon juice or vinegar and quickly steer for about a minute, until all of the basic baking soda would react with the acidic wet mixture.
5. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back when gently pushed down.
6. Let the dough cool down* to room temperature.
   
   * If you chose to make a “Swiss” roll cake, use the hot dough immediately as described below.

Cake assembly

For making a “Swiss” roll cake

1. Flip the warm dough onto a towel and peel off very gently the baking paper. Alternatively, you can flip the dough onto a large board/tray, peel off the baking paper and then put it back to cover the dough and flip it back on it.
2. Spread evenly the Anko filling over the dough, leaving a thumb-thick edge uncovered along one of the short sides of the rectangular dough. If the Anko would over cool, you might need to use for this a flexible spatula.
3. Position the cake in front of you, so that the empty short edge is further from you.
4. Roll the cake tightly and outwards, so that the rolling ends on the empty side. To start rolling you can use the baking paper or towel on which the dough is laid.
5. Before serving, let the cake to cool in the fridge or outdoors in winter.

For making a round cake

1. Flip the cooled dough onto a large cake plate, and gently peel off the baking paper.
2. Spread evenly the Anko filling over the dough. If the Anko would over cool, you might need to use for this a flexible spatula.
3. Before serving, let the cake to cool in the fridge or outdoors in winter.

Enjoy!

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