Yam Mochi in Sticky Gochujang Garlic Sauce

 

This year for Christmas I decided to try something new. I had never had mochi before and I saw several absolutely delicious looking recipes on Pinterest and knew I had to give it a try. 

I ended up searching through several dozen recipes because there are a million different ways to make it. I combined a few to come up with this one and the family was pretty happy with the results. 

I will definitely be making this for future dinners. It takes a little time to roll all the balls out but is otherwise super simple! 

Yam Mochi In Sticky Gochujang Garlic Sauce 

Ingredients

Mochi 

3 cups mashed yams (about 2 medium)

2 cups cornstarch 

2 cups tapioca flour

1 Tbsp salt

Olive oil

Sauce

4 Tbsp soy sauce

4 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp sugar 

2 tsp fish sauce

2-3 tsp gochujang 

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp cornstarch

1/3 cup chicken broth

Garnish 

Green onions

Sesame seeds

Directions

Boil yams until very soft  - about 20 minutes. Let cool completely. 

Mix the cooled, mashed yams with the cornstarch, tapioca flour, and salt. Mixture should form a firm yet pliable dough.

If it is too sticky, add a bit more tapioca flour a little at a time. If it is too dry, add a little water. 

Pinch off grape sized pieces of dough and roll into balls. Place on parchment paper lined sheet. 

If you don’t want to use all of the dough you can freeze it for a later time. 

Once the balls are ready bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop about 1/4 of the balls in (not too many as you don't want the water to stop boiling). 

Boil until the balls float to the surface - about 3 - 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the mochi from the water and drop into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside. Repeat until all the balls are cooked. 

Toss in a little bit of olive oil to prevent the balls from sticking together. 

At this stage you can refrigerate the balls until ready to make the sauce and serve. 

When ready to eat - prepare the sauce.

Place soy sauce, water, sugar, gochujang, fish sauce, garlic, and sesame oil in a large pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add in the mochi and stir to coat. Whisk together cornstarch and chicken broth and add to pan. Turn heat to low and cook until heated through, stirring often.

If sauce thicken too much, add a bit more chicken broth. 

Remove from heat and sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds. 

You can make this with potatoes, sweet potatoes, or yams. The yams give them that beautiful orange color. A great recipe to use up leftovers.  

I sampled the mochi without the sauce and they taste just like plain yams. It’s the texture that makes these so intriguing. Chewy and sticky and deliciously different. 

The gochujang adds so much flavor but it also adds heat. Start with a little and add more as you like it. I went with about 1 Tbsp total and it was just spicy enough. 

We love trying foods we haven’t had before and this one is definitely going into regular rotation!