The Tale of the Mochi Factory Nightmare

The Tale of the Mochi Factory Nightmare

Location: My own home
Time: Lost forever.

My recollection of that night is rather blurry. I remember coming home after a day of volunteering and Kay coming back from college that same night. Other than that, the details are lost. Let me tell you. It was a rough night. I slaved for hours (literally). I started around 5:30 P.M. and worked until 7 P.M. Had a relaxing dinner with the family. Returned home where JSB ordered me to continue working. Kay came home around 10 PM and said she wanted to go out and grab a bite, because she didn't have dinner yet. JSB made a deal with Kay: we would accompany her to dinner if she worked at JSB's mochi mill. At one point, my eyes began to tear up, my fingers started aching, and I was starting to doze off in the kitchen. From what I recall, I didn't get to crawl into bed until 4 AM??

The worst part:

The next day when we were suppose to have fun, I had to help her deliver the goods. *sends DEATH GLARES to JSB*

Subplot:
This was JSB's project. It was a creative twist on the traditional mochi. Combining the smooth, sweet, and velvety ganache with the chewy texture of mochi was brilliant. There were 3 flavors: dark chocolate, white chocolate, and green tea (MY IDEA!). Her idea is similar to Betelnut's mochi, which is filled with Kahlua dark chocolate, milk chocolate Grand Marnier and white chocolate Amaretto. I find JSB's colored mochi much more interesting than the white cornstarch that Betelnut uses.

Since JSB is secretive about her recipes, I cannot share the love. However, I'll gladly show you the steps.

Dust the working surface with powder. We used cocoa powder, matcha, and cornstarch.

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This is a two step process. The first process is covering the mochi in the powder and flattening it. When it's at the desired thickness, cut into squares. Covering your hands and both sides of the mochi with powder prevents the mochi from sticking to you.

 *Click picture to enlarge*

The next process is dropping chocolate ganache onto each square. Followed by lots of pinching.

Finished packages for delivery.  Yes, the packaging looks horrible, but it works. We made over 300 mochi that night.

Green tea mochi -- Close up. Why the chocolate cap? I used so much matcha powder that it was too bitter. The dark chocolate helped cut the bitterness. Besides, it looks much more attractive this way. Tiny moss balls. hahaha.

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Kids, this is what happens when you try to revive a harden white chocolate mochi. JSB *thought* she was being oh-so-smart by steaming the mochi to soften it. Instead, it died...it's guts leaked out like a cracked egg.