I decided to make the
Coconut and Peach Mochi recipe that I posted 4 (!) years ago. It was kind of a disaster, so I thought I'd give you folks an update. Still tasty though, so I recommend the recipe.
First mistake: The filling uses a packet of gelatin. What I have in the house is collagen, which is what gelatin is made from. I did a little internet research and it says collagen won't make things gel (but "AI" confabulations are everywhere). I decided to try it, since I clearly remember using a different brand of collagen as a successful substitute in the past. I cooked up the filling the night before. The next morning, it *looked* like it gelled, but no, in this case the internet was right.
Second mistake: I decided to make the mochi anyway, with ungelled filling. Like sweet dumplings maybe? The nectarines + apricot jam were still yummy, gelled or not.
I made the dough, and it was immensely sticky. I think this might be how it's supposed to be, but I commented last time that it wasn't so sticky. This time I put in the full amount of sugar, maybe last time I cut back, as I often do. Or, this time I used brown sugar (because that's what I have in the house) so maybe that made the difference.
I did my best to stir it for five minutes as instructed, but the bowl was hot from the microwave, the potholder I was using to hold it was getting sticky dough on it, and it was more of mushing it around with a wooden spurtle than actually stirring it. I did follow instructions to powder the surface, with tapioca starch in my case, so I successfully made a log from the dough
It was so sticky that when I used a sharp knife to cut it into slices, they immediately glommed back together as if they'd never been cut if they were still touching.
I could take a slice and flatten it out, but of course I couldn't put much liquidy filling in there before it squished out again. They ended up more like kolachky, open at the top. They were sticky enough to coat with coconut flakes this time!
The cleanup was epic, with sticky dough everywhere. It took a lot of scrubbing to get it out of that bowl, especially since I used one with curved-in sides.
Overall, still yummy, but I highly recommend using actual gelatin. And maybe a different kind of sugar? But I think the super-stickiness is by design.
If you try it, let me know if you're more successful!