Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Moffles!

I first heard about moffles through The Kitchn (btw, in case you haven't seen, my bunny buns were featured as a Delicious Link on The Kitchn a few days back!) and decided if there was any way I could get my hands on a waffle iron and mochi blocks, I would definitely try it out. Well, luckily, my friends Jen and Tammy had a waffle iron and mochi blocks, which Tammy got from a Korean grocery store. I invited them over with their respective supplies and said I'd provide the toppings.

The condiments for moffles

At first I was thinking more traditional waffle toppings like maple syrup, whipped cream, bananas, Nutella, etc., but then Jen suggested we stick to more traditional mochi accompaniments, such as sweetened red beans, peanuts ground with sugar, and black sesame powder, which I thought was a brilliant idea. Even better, when I was at Super 88 looking for black sesame seeds, I found instant sesame powder mix, which according to the ingredients, already had sugar in it. As for the peanut powder, I just used a food processor to grind a half cup of raw peanuts with 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Just make sure you don't grind too long or else you'll end up with peanut butter. You basically want it to look like this:

Peanut powder

I added sweetened condensed milk to the toppings because I like how it goes with sweetened red beans, and I thought the powders might need something kind of wet and sticky to bind to. Finally, I made some frozen yogurt on the spot using a cup of vanilla yogurt, 1/3 cup of sour cream, and 1 bottle of Chinese yogurt drink. I was aiming for something like Pinkberry frozen yogurt, but I failed to add sugar, and the texture wasn't quite there. Still edible, though. =)

The mochi blocks

So according to the article, you just throw some mochi blocks on to the waffle iron and let it do its thing. I set the waffle iron on high, sprayed it with some cooking oil, put two blocks in the center, and closed the top. The blocks start off dry and dense; basically nothing you'd ever try to eat as is. But as the heat started cooking the mochi, the blocks began to expand and fill out the entire waffle iron. After a couple minutes, we were able to press down on the iron to close it, and we took the moffles off the iron once they were coming out the sides.

Moffle!

Then we cut each moffle into quarters and started experimenting with the toppings. I found that the moffle itself didn't have too much flavor, which is not a bad thing as it was really the texture that stands out. The outside is crispy, almost crackly, while the inside is soft and almost gooey. In a word, awesome.

I really, really liked the sesame powder topping as it reminded me of the sesame filled tang yuan, and the red bean and sweetened condensed milk topped moffles were pretty good too. I wasn't as big of a fan of the peanut powder, but then, I'm not a big fan of peanuts in general.

Moffle with red beans and sweetened condensed milk

I would totally make moffles again, if ever such a confluence of a waffle maker and mochi blocks being in my kitchen happened again. And if you have a waffle maker, I can totally find some mochi blocks to bring by. ;)

8 comments:

  1. omg! How amazing! I would rank toppings in order of black sesame, red bean, and lastly peanuts (b/c i don't like peanuts, either). I have to try these!

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  2. this is awesome. i haven't used my waffle maker in years. i just need to find some mochi blocks now.

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  3. Wow! I have got to get some mochi blocks! Thanks for the post.

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  4. This is so fun! I loved it. They sell mochi blocks at some whole foods, just in case people are wondering where to find them!

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  5. Moffles sound really good! Now I just need a waffle iron.

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  6. Mochi block? How interesting! I have never heard of it before. I will have to look for it on my next trip to the grocery store. Looks great!

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  7. Ha ha I havent seen block mochi in years! At New Years we used to roast the mochi over a stove burner on high until it became crispy on the outside and melty inside. It made a terrible mess if you left it too long. We also dipped the roasted mochi in a more savory dipping sauce. Soy, vinegar and a touch of mirin and sesame.
    If I can find the recipe we used for the soup I will post it

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  8. These waffle irons are a great purchase, and you will absolutely adore serving up to guests and showing off their unique shapes.

    Waffle toppings

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