Bekomochi ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

1. Mix glutinous rice flour, non-glutinous rice flour, white sugar, and salt, and moisten the mixture by pouring boiling water over it.

2. Add lukewarm water little by little to the mixture in 1, and knead the dough until it is the consistency of an earlobe, keeping the flour together. Color 1／3 of the kneaded mochi with instant coffee, divide into 5 equal portions, and roll into balls.

3. Divide the remaining white dough from 2 into 6 equal parts. Wrap a ball of brown dough from 2 in 5 of the portions of white dough, roll it up, and press it from the top and bottom to flatten it slightly. Make 5 equal pieces, stack them in 5 layers, and press the center from the top.

4. Wrap one ball from 2 in a piece of the dough from 3, roll it up, and press it from the top and bottom to flatten it slightly. Make 5 equal pieces, stack them in 5 layers, and press the center from the top.

5. Make 2 cuts in the center of 4 and seal the cuts by pinching the dough.

6. Make two fish cake-shaped bases with the remaining dough from 3, and arrange the dough from 5 in the center of one of the bases. Place the long, thin dough from 5 with the cut side facing up.
Finally, cover with the remaining fish cake-shaped base to form a "tabane" pattern.

7. Stretch out the dough from 6 to roughly 30 cm while shaping it in the form of a fish cake.

8. Cut the dough from 7 into 1 cm pieces and steam in a steamer for about 10-15 minutes.
Freshly steamed bekomochi are soft and sweet, and can be eaten as is.
When the bekomochi has cooled and hardened, it is best to bake it in a toaster oven to make it savory and delicious. You can also warm them up in a microwave oven or steam them again.
If placed in the freezer while still hot after steaming, they will become soft when defrosted and can be eaten as is.