Pan-fried Bacon Wrapped Mochi

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Sorry for the long break here.

I’ve been spending lots of time with my kids, dallying around, and enjoying the summer days.

This Bacon wrapped mochi seems to have become a favorite recently. We’ve ordered it in restaurants before, but I’ve never made it at home.

Turns out, it’s really easy.

Frozen Osaka-Ya Plain Mochi (Komochi) 

Start off with some plain mochi. These are from our favorite local wagashi shop Osaka-Ya.

You can get them fresh around New Year’s, but any other time of the year they make them every few months and freeze them. If you live locally, you can also find them frozen at Oto’s Marketplace.

Grainaissance is another local area company that makes brown rice mochi. I’ve found it in the refrigerated section at our Natural Food Co-op. It also freezes very well. I usually get a couple of plain flavored packs to keep in the freezer since my kids love it baked, then dipped in a shoyu-sugar sauce. I haven’t actually made the bacon wrapped mochi using this, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. It comes in a big square, so I would just cut it in small bite sized pieces.

Let the mochi thaw. If it is hard, which it most likely will be, place it in the microwave on high for 10 seconds at a time, until it gives only slightly when pressed.

You don’t want it to get too soft, or it will be very sticky and difficult to cut. Just get it soft enough to cut with a sharp knife, and pierce with a skewer.

Cut each round mochi into six pieces.

Cut the bacon slices into thirds.

Roll each piece of mochi in a cut slice of bacon and secure the end as you thread it onto a small skewer.

Place 2-3 pieces onto each skewer, leaving about a fingerwidth between pieces.

Heat up a cast iron pan on high heat.

Place a few skewers into the pan (I did 4 skewers at a time in my 10″ square cast iron pan), leaving an inch or more between them in case the mochi starts to ooze out. If the melted pieces touch they will stick together.

If your skewers are too long to fit in the pan flat, break off the ends like I did here, so the skewers can lay flat in the pan.

Almost immediately turn the heat down to medium. After a minute turn the heat down to medium low. This will prevent the bacon from burning, while giving it time to cook and time for the mochi to soften.

Turn the skewers over every 30-45 seconds so they cook evenly and don’t burn.

Each batch will take about 10-12 minutes (depending on the thickness of the bacon and the mochi) for the bacon to cook through and crisp up, and the mochi to get soft and oozy. Drain out the bacon grease between batches.

Serve immediately with a shoyu-sugar sauce on the side to drizzle, brush on, or dip. (A small squirt of Sriracha added to the sauce is delicious–Blue D’s idea)

Of course we need a little something to drink with these perfect little pupus.

I recently stopped by a new local shop, Preservation & Co., which specializes in handcrafted preserved foods. Their award winning Bloody Mary Mix is very popular.

Cheers!