Potato Mochi & Agarrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!
Friday, February 12, 2010 - 12:54 am English | 日本語
I’m not screaming out in frustration, but talking about Agar here. And with agar it is so much easier to make yummy jellies than gelatine, and so great especially during this hot and humid summer that I’m hating like a SOB. ;p
It all started when I had taken the macrobiotic cooking class. Agar jelly is nothing unusual thing in Asian cuisine, but I was shockingly surprised that it sets solid really quick. It’s so quick that you don’t even need to put it in the fridge!
Crushed orange jelly again.
It may vary depending on which product to use, normally 4g of powder agar turns 500ml of liquid into jelly. I find 4g + 500ml to be really reliable measurement, but if you prefer, adding another 100ml of liquid makes the softer gelatine jelly like result. Agar poweder solution requires boiling in order to get its solidifying agent to work, so don’t be afraid to bring the liquid to boil. When it cooled down to lukewarm temperature, it starts setting. <-- I find it fascinating to see something still warm becomes solid!
So this time, I tried to make double layered agar jelly with two of my favourites – Mango & condensed milk! I wanted the jelly to have intense Mango flavour complimented by lovely sweetness of condensed milk, so I used mango nectar instead of mango juice. 500ml of mango nectar + 4g agar powder & 200ml of condensed milk + 300ml of milk + 4g agar.
Man, it went really AWESOME together. I strongly recommend to try this combination! What else goes well with mango? Coconut milk. I put these yummy bouncy cubes into a glass filled with coconut milk. WIN!
And here’s the day after – mango & condensed milk jelly with yogurt sauce. (hmm, I wish I had something to garnish with.)
I’m totally addicted to agar now.
… and now I realised that I was planning to write about the potato mochi first. ;p Oh well.
So. Potato mochi. Have you had this before? It’s one of well-known dishes originated in Hokkaido Japan, and it has been a popular Izakaya food. It’s exactly what the name claims – mochi made of potato. How straightforward is that.
Last time I was eating at Mizuya, they had this on their food menu and of course we ordered it. And it actually brought me back some memories of my grandma who passed away last year. She used to make the potato mochi often and serve it with mitarashi sauce (thick sweet soy sauce) as a snack. Simple, quick, no fuss recipe, but it tastes quite good.
Slice 4 medium size potato, and cook until soft in a boiling water. Drain the water and let it vaporise. Put them into a bowl and mash as desired – I like having bit of chunkiness left. Add three table spoons of potato starch and mix well. Once combined well, the mixture becomes smoother and easier to shape – it happens quite quickly. Shape it like a log and roll up with cling wrap. Let it rest in the fridge for about half hour. Slice it as you like, and panfry until brown. To make Mitarashi sauce, heat 4 table spoons of sugar and 2 table spoons of Mirin until the sugar turns into light golden color. Add 2 table spoon of soy sauce, and heat further until thicken.
How’s that looking? Instead of mitarashi sauce, you could bury a cube of cheese in each slice and panfry them. It tastes sort of like a hash brown, but with softer and chewier texture. Try this so-easy-to-make dish, because it really goes well with a cold beer or two! (And you can store the mixture in the freezer!)
nom nom nom.
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24 comments for “Potato Mochi & Agarrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”
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I must say agar agar is very addictive. The plating of your potato mochi is so pretty.
agar is so good to use as an ingrideint. The potato mochi looks good though I will have to use low salt soy.
lols no pic of yas eating?
They look so good! Mango and agar is a winner.
Great pics ! How do you layer them up? In the pics, you have mango in one dish and condensed milk in the other…
They look so yum, esp the agar
早速寒天導入だな（笑）
ミルク寒天は何もしなくてもおいしいというのに、マンゴー＆ココナッツミルクの最強タッグって！
ドレッシングを寒天で固めてクラッシュして、サラダにかけるってのをたまに見かけるけど、水分少な目のマチェドニア（一般的にはなんだっけ、フルーツポンチか？）に濃厚なミルク寒天クラッシュをかけて食べたらおいしそう。
いももちもおいしそうだなあ。
Damn I shouldn’t have read this while I was hungry. I want them both now!
That mango and coconut jelly would go down a treat in this weather! 
OMG, a man after my own heart. Mochi and mitarashi!!! Looks sooo delish.
Hope you don’t mind Im going to steal both recipes! Both look yummo!
Send some of that mango & condensed milk jelly with yogurt sauce over!
Nice combo yo…check out that perfectly cut piece on the spoon. So um, how much of that jelly did you end up eating??
the panfried mochi looks awesome, and yup go agar jelly is used it viet jellies (they use these awesome floral moulds) which yield so many colours thank to the quick set settings
Just made your magno and condensed milk agar for our CNY dessert (along with a durian cake and some cashew nut cookies). It is an awesome combination, and everyone loved it.
Hmm..I wonder how a mango and coconut milk one would go?!?
My mum is a big fan of Agar. She uses it all the time. Its so easy to use and would be perfect with Mango and Coconut Milk. Delicious
I thought the whole agarrrrrr thing was you channeling your inner pirate
The agar jellies look like they would be fantastic! I tend to prefer it over more traditional ones.
The potato mochi look so, so nice. Bet they would work a treat with a nice cold beer.
YAY! Was waiting for the mango agar post! Thanks for sharing! I was NOT disappointed. It looks delicious!
Oh I love love agar agar. It reminds me of my childhood. Thanks for the recipe, looking forward to trying it out!
oh i love layers. the mango jelly looks so good
potato mochi sounds right up my alley too. hello starchy goodness!
Yas, loved this post and your post on macrobiotic cooking. Is it possible for you to add me as a subscriber? I cannot seem to do this through the blog.
I’m a North Coast dude who sometimes lives in Sydney, sometimes Byron Bay, the rest of the time iIm out working on the world’s oceans.
Your blog gives me inspiration and ideas for when I’m back in the kitchen!
Cheers,
Jeff.
this is some interesting food. i love how that 2-layer version works, and the fried kind looks amazing. i’m kind of clueless about all of this food though… not really familiar to me.
@Ellie
Ohh yes, I’m using Agar Agar powder for many other things these days! Agar junkie here I am.
@yewenyi
I use Tamari Soy sauce – deeper in taste, but lower sodium!
@chocolatesuze
hehehe food whore I am LOL
@Joey
that’s for sure! Too bad that mangos didn’t become cheaper much!
@Li
Oh it might be hard to see, but the second picture with condensed milk was poured over the mango one!
@KennyT
Mango & Condensed milk, best match made in fat heaven!
@とまこまい
マンゴーとコンデンスミルク、やばいくらい美味いﾖ。寒天自体はノーカロリー＆食物繊維タップリだもんねぇ。
@Lorraine
I have to say the same thing back to you too! I have consumed way too much agar over the summer!
@Tasty Japan
Potato mochi with Mitarashi sauce is DA BEST!
@Julie
Hahaha let me know how you liked when you tried
@Howard
Only if you steal Linda’s macarons for me!
@ Adrian
Of course the whole tray! (Wait, hear me out, Argar is supposed to be zero cholesterol!!)
@Betty
yeah, I love seeing all these different agar jellies from asian food cultures! they look so pretty *sigh*
@Mellie
Ahh awesome! I’m totally in love with the combination! hehe the jelly was made in the same tray in one go. (condensed milk one over the mango layer)
@Katherine
One of the only few things I loved about this summer is agar jelly! (ughh I can’t take the humidity and heat waves!)
@Simon
I reckon food made of potato generally goes well with beer, don’t you think? Chips, wedges etc. Potato mochi is highly recommended!
@Trissa
Hehe thanks! I’ve used agar too many times that I’m going to start claiming the agar master title soon lol
@JT
Awesome! Let me know how it turned out
@Helen
Ohh yes! and thanks for getting me one before. I used them all in one go LOL
@Jeff
Thanks! Macrobiotic is pretty interesting and I’m slowly getting into it! Hmm do you mean that RSS is not working correctly??
@Justcooknyc
Thanks! Asian cuisine is a quite interesting thing to discover
I can never resist anything potato! I’ll be trying your potato mochi very soon. Thanks for sharing this.
Great photos and a great read. Keep up the great blogging!