Posted on by Bembum Kitchen

Neapolitan Mochi Ice Cream


Hi Guys, today we are making these “Neapolitan Mochi Ice Cream”. It’s a soft sticky chewy sweet rice dough with an ice cream filling inside.
It’s been my all time favorite dessert since I was 15th, and you’ll be surprise to see how Kids love it so much.

These popular Japanese dessert is fairly easy to make at home. The famous brand that you can purchase in Japan is Lotte brand “Yukimi Daifuku”.

NO-CHURN Homemade Ice Cream without Eggs, Whipped Cream or Condensed Milk

Most of people use store bought ice cream to save time.
I personally love to make my own No-Churn ice cream for the fillings. Delicious creamy ice cream without any eggs, whipped cream nor condensed milk; and you can have 2 ice cream flavours in 1 go; The yummy chocolate flavour and vanilla almond to represent the traditional Neapolitan taste.

Vanilla Almond Soft Pink Mochi Dough

And YES, it’s always Shiratanako or Mochiko flour for making the best mochi dough. But for most of people is really hard to find them specially in Asian grocery stores and online.
That’s why I decided to substitute it with glutinous rice flour; there will be a difference in texture, but still taste great.

Yummy Chocolatey Mochi Dough

I don’t recommend to store the mochi dough in the fridge to speed up the cooling process, coz it will leads to condensation. The moisture will trap inside the dough and ends with sticky wet dough surface, it will be troublesome- hard to handle.

Soft Brush to Remove Excess Starch

The texture of the soft mochi so memorable and it can also be flavoured as a complement to the ice cream filling. It is quite chewy and sticky, so make sure that you have enough corn or potato starch to help manage the stickiness.

I loved the soft and chewy texture of this refreshing treats.
Is there any food happier and cuter than mochi? It’s subtly sweet and a pillowy-soft chew.
You can also add a few drops of food coloring to the mochi dough or natural food dyes, the sky’s really the limit.

This is only a basic ice cream mochi recipe, waiting to be dressed up however you like. Add about a teaspoon of matcha powder to make green tea mochi, or a flavored extract to the wet ingredients to flavor it to your liking.

Chocolatey Mochi with Chocolate Ice Cream Filling

The ice cream is creamy, not too soft and not overly sweet; and the chewy mochi itself not too sticky or floury in flavor.

Vanilla Mochi with Vanilla Almond Ice Cream Filling

You can do as many flavours and colours as you want.
Imagine your kids smiling faces when they bite into their favorite ice cream inside the soft mochi shell.

This will make a really cool summer treat and a really fun cooking project with your children.

If you want to make it for some kind of party, such as barbecue or something I think it would be a perfect dessert. I hope Guys enjoy this recipe!

NEAPOLITAN MOCHI ICE CREAM
Yield: 6 pieces (60 ml each)
Active time:  1 hours
Total time: 9 hours

INGREDIENTS
Ice Cream Mixture:

  • 240 gr Milk
  • 30 gr Granulated Sugar 
  • 48 gr Milk Powder
  • 10 gr Corn Starch
  • 30 gr Milk
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract 
  • 1 tbs Cocoa Powder
  • 1 tbs Hot Water


Vanilla Almond Mochi Dough:

  • 115 gr Water
  • 40 gr Milk
  • 40 gr Granulated Sugar
  • 15 gr Vegetable Oil
  • 1/8 tsp Beetroot Powder or Pink Food Colouring
  • 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
  • 80 gr Glutinous Rice Flour


Chocolate Mochi Dough:

  • 115 gr Water
  • 40 gr Milk
  • 40 gr Granulated Sugar
  • 15 gr Vegetable Oil
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2 tsp Cocoa Powder
  • 80 gr Glutinous Rice Flour

Corn or Potato Starch 


INSTRUCTIONS
Ice Cream Mixture

  1. Prepare the silicone mould (if you use small plastic cup, glass or cupcake pan, make sure that you line the mould with cling wrap so it’s easier when unmould the ice cream).
  2. In a medium pan, combine 240 grams of milk, sugar and milk powder, mix until no lumps remain.
    Cook over medium heat until simmering, stirring constantly to avoid the mixture burning. 
  3. In the meanwhile, in a small container combine the corn starch, 30 grams of milk and vanilla extract, mix well.
    Gently pour the corn starch mixture to the simmering milk mixture, continue whisking until the mixture starts to boil and thickened.
  4. Remove from the heat, divide half of the mixture to the 3 cavities of the mould.
    Mix the remaining mixture with cocoa powder that has been diluted with some hot water.
    Divide this chocolate mixture to the rest of cavities.
  5. Cover and store them in the freezer for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight to harden.
  6. Unmould the ice cream; place them in the container that has been lined with parchment paper so it won’t stick to the surface. Pop them again in the freezer while continue with the mochi dough.


Mochi Dough
Microwave Method

  1. In a microwave safe bowl, mix all the ingredients until well combined.
  2. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap, microwave it on high heat for 1 minute, take it out and stir with a wet rubber spatula, cover again and microwave it for another 1 minute (we will know that the mixture is well cooked when all the colour is semi translucent).

*For the chocolate mochi dough; strain the mixture before microwave it to make sure there’s no lumps remain.

Steaming Method

  1. In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients until well combined.
  2. Place the bowl in the preheated steamer (cover the steamer lid with a towel so the condensation won’t drop into the mochi mixture) and steam for about 20 minutes (stir it with a wet rubber spatula at halfway cooking and cover it again to finish cooking). 


ROLLING

  1. Cover the work surface with a piece of large parchment paper and dust with generous amount of corn or potato starch (if you are worried about eating raw starch, heat the starch in the pan for about 5 minutes).
  2. Transfer the hot cooked mochi dough onto a parchment paper and sprinkle more starch on top of the dough.
  3. Using your palm gently press and spread the dough onto a long rectangular shape, about ¼ inch thick (until it’s big enough to fit into 3 pieces round circles shapes).
  4. Let the dough rest for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until the mochi is set and cooled down completely.


ASSEMBLY

  1. Using round cutter, divide the mochi dough into 3 pieces for each flavour. Pick up one circle of dough, gently brush off the starch on both sides.
  2. Brush the mould with some starch to prevent stickiness and then lay the dough in the center of the mould
  3. Working with one scoop of ice cream at a time, (keep the rest in the freezer so they don’t melt), place one ice cream scoop in the center of the mochi dough and gently press the dough around the ice cream. Pinch the edges of the mochi to seal it. 
  4. Continue with remaining dough and ice cream (try to work fast or else the ice cream will starts to melts it will end up as a puddle on your hands).
  5. Cover and store them in the freezer for at least 1 hour before serving.

*If your use other than silicone moulds, make sure that you cover the finished ice cream mochi individualy in a cling wrap to prevent stickiness and then place them back into the mould to keep the shape.


NOTES

  1. Feel free to double or triple the recipe; more dough means longer time to cook the mochi dough.
  2. I don’t recommend to store the mochi dough in the fridge to speed up the cooling process, coz it will leads to condensation, the moisture will trap inside the dough and ends with sticky wet dough surface, it will be hard to handle it.
  3. It’s important to have a size of mochi dough that is just big enough to surround the ice cream, coz too much extra dough hanging off which will taste a bit hard once it frozen. 
  4. Mochi ice cream can be kept in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week. When you’re ready to eat, let them sit out for at least 15 minutes to soften before biting in! 
  5. Recipe variations:
    – Matcha: Mix in 1 1/2 tsp of matcha (green tea powder) to the vanilla ice cream mixture (omit vanilla and almond extract)  and 1 tsp to the plain mochi dough (omit the beetroot powder).
    – Coffee: Mix in 1 tsp of instant coffee to the vanilla ice cream mixture (omit almond extract) and ½ tsp to the plain mochi dough (omit the beetroot powder).
Posted on by Bembum Kitchen

My Melody Taiwanese Savory Mooncake

Hi Guys, today we are making these “My Melody Taiwanese Savory Mooncake”. It’s a flaky crust moon cake with the savoury sweet fillings inside which has a really unique texture.

Unlike the common traditional mooncake that are sweet, some spicy braised meat was added to the mung bean paste as a filling, they blends really well, the savoury perfectly complement the sweetness.

Crispy crust outside, Sweet spicy salty filling inside

You have some bits to bite in the smooth fillings, the savoury pairs the sweetness perfectly, the crunchiness of the layer crust even make it more special.

You can actually omit the meat portion if you wish too, but that’s what makes it special in my opinion. And if you are not preparing this for moon cake festivals, it’s definitely a good snack or a nice breakfast item.

Look how adorable they are!

The beautiful flaky crust itself created by combining 2 different type of dough which is called water and oil dough that has been layered by rolling and folding similar in making puff pastry dough.

Feel free to create any design you like but always remember that for the combined dough, you need to make the oil dough colour slightly lighter than the water dough so it doesn’t show on the surface of the water dough when you roll it.

So this is how we combine the dough;
Lightly press down to flatten the water dough and place the oil dough in the center of the water dough. Fold the combined dough like an envelope, seal all the seam and shape it round again.
Cover and let them rest for at least 10 minutes so the gluten can relax a bit.

Place oil dough in the center of the water dough

After resting, take one combined dough, using rolling pin, roll the dough into a long rectangular shape as evenly as possible, don’t press it too hard as you might tear the water dough membrane, about 3 mm thick is enough (pic. 1)
And then roll it up like you are preparing swiss roll (pic. 2)


Then turn the swiss roll direction with the shorter side pointing at you, using rolling pin roll it again into a long rectangular shape (pic. 3 & 4)

*One important tip when you roll the dough is always make sure that your rolling pin is clean from any dough flakes coz it will attracts the water dough surface which can cause a lot of cracks on the mooncake later.


And finally, roll it up again like a swiss roll (pic. 5 & 6)


Please note the colour will be much lighter when baked in the oven.
The minced meat is slightly on the salty side to compliment the sweet of the mung bean paste. If you prefer more spicy, feel free to add more chili or for a bigger kick, you can add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, that will be great too!

And if the times permit, you even can prepared this meat the night before and store them in the fridge to let the flavor develops, it will taste even better.

Oh I love My Melody so much, they are my favorite Sanrio character since I was a child.

They taste amazing when served slightly warm and paired with a cup of hot tea or maybe your favorite coffee.
They are so adorable, tasty and also satisfying with their unique texture, it’s really hard to describe unless you have a chance to taste it

The recipe is rather long winded but it is rewarding coz they are so pretty and delicious.
I really hope you Guys give it a try coz this mooncake really suit my taste buds and I have to stop myself for further eating.

And if you want; you can share your creations with me with the “hastags bembumkitchen”, I really love to see all your creativity and I’ll make sure to give a like or thumbs up!

Enjoy the recipe, Love you All!!

MY MELODY TAIWANESE MOONCAKE
Yield: 10 pieces
Active time:  3 hours
Total time: 4 hours

INGREDIENTS
Mung Bean Paste:

  • 100 gr Split Yellow Mung Beans
  • 100 gr Hot Water
  • 75 gr Granulated Sugar

Braised Meat:

  • 100 grams Minced Pork
  • 1 tbs Corn Flour
  • 1 tsp Garlic (Minced)
  • 1 tsp Ginger (Minced)
  • 1/2 tbs Onion (Minced)
  • 1/2 tbs Rice Wine
  • 2 tbs Soy Sauce
  • 1 tsp Chopped Chilli Padi
  • 1/2 tsp Five Spice Powder
  • 1/4 tsp White Pepper
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 2 tsp Sugar
  • 1/2 tbs White or Black Sesame Seeds

Water Dough:

  • 200 gr All-Purpose Flour
  • 50 gr Shortening
  • 20 gr Icing Sugar
  • 100 gr Cold Water
  • Food Colouring (Pink, Black, Blue, Yellow)

Oil Dough:

  • 75 gr Cake Flour
  • 35 gr Shortening
  • Pink Food Colouring


INSTRUCTIONS
Mung Bean Paste

  1. Wash mung beans in several rinses of water until the water runs clear, then soak them in a hot boiling water for 30 minutes (the water will be absorbed and the beans gets bigger). 
  2. Preheat the steamer, bring water to a boil and then steam the soaked beans for about 30 minutes or until it can be easily mashed.
  3. Pour the beans into a non-stick pan, add in the sugar, cook over medium low heat (it will be wet at first as the sugar melts,keep stirring until it gets drier).
    Using a spatula, press the beans until it resembles a thick paste (as the water evaporates, the beans will no longer be sticky).
    Feel free to use blender or immersion blender if you prefer a really fine paste.
  4. Take it off from the heat, cover it with a plastic wrap, store in the fridge to firm up.


Braise Meat

  1. Sprinkle corn flour to the meat before cooking (it will helps prevent overcooking and toughening of the outer layers so the result will be more tender and flavourful).
  2. In a medium pan, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, add in the minced garlic and onion, cook until golden brown.
    Add in minced pork, continue cooking until it change in colour.
    Pour in the rice wine and soy sauce, stir well.
    Add in the rest ingredients and mix until well combined.
    *Feel free to add more chili or cayenne pepper if you like more spicy.
  3. Cover and store them in the fridge to let the flavor develops.


Water Dough

  1. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients, stir until it forms a sticky dough.
  2. Lightly transfer to a work surface and knead until it forms a smooth dough. 
  3. Divide the dough for each details, color as needed
  4. Cover each colours with a cling wrap and let it rest for at least 20 minutes.


Oil Dough
Mix the flour and shortening, add in the pink food colouring (this oil dough colour must be slightly lighter than the water dough for the base of My Melody’s head).
Keep mixing until it forms a soft dough (it can be slightly sticky). Cover it with a plastic wrap to prevent the dough dry.


COMBINE, ROLL & BAKE

  1. Divide the bean paste into 10 equal portions (25 gr each), shape it into a ball.
    Using your thumb press the center of the bean ball to create a hole. Insert about 1-2 tsp of the braised meat filling in the center, and then wrap and seal. Perform the same for the remaining 9 portions.
  2. Combine 2 dough:
    Divide the “soft pink” water dough and oil dough into 10 equal pieces (19 grams water dough, 11 grams oil dough).
    Lightly press down the water dough to flatten and place the oil dough in the center of the water dough.
    Fold the combined dough like an envelope, seal all the seam and shape it round again. Continue with the rest dough.
    Cover and let them rest for at least 10 minutes so the gluten can relax a bit.
  3. Roll the combined dough:
    Take one combined dough, using rolling pin, roll the dough into a long rectangular shape as evenly as possible (don’t press it too hard as you might tear the water dough membrane), 3 mm thick is enough. 
    Roll it up like you are preparing swiss roll.
    Turn the swiss roll direction with the shorter side pointing at you, using rolling pin roll it again into a long rectangular shape. Then roll it up again like a swiss roll.
    Set aside, cover it up while continue with the rest dough.


FILL  & DECORATE

  1. Fill
    Take one of the swiss roll dough, using rolling pin, flatten it into a circle shape.
    Flip the dough, place one portion of a bean ball at the center of the dough, and start covering the bean ball from all sides, rotate while tighten your palm, make sure the skin and filling stick together evenly.
    Seal all the seam. Shape the mooncake a bit oval as My Melody’s head. Repeat this process for the rest of the Mooncake.
  2. Decorate
    Add details according to My Melody’s Head, add the spark of her eyes with some white food colouring

BAKE
Bake in the preheated 170°C oven for about 15-18 minutes.
Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly on the pan for about 10-15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.


NOTES

  1. Don’t let the water dough sit too long coz it will release the oil and cause a lot of crack on the mooncake surface later.
  2. Best serve 20 minutes freshly baked. 
  3. To store in an airtight container; 1 day at room temperature, 1 week fridge, 1 months freezer.
  4. To reheat; 180°C oven for about 5-10 minutes