Mochi are sweet, filled Japanese dumplings that are served chilled. I’ve been fascinated by them from the first time I had one, but I’d always been told that they could be made only in factories. And since the commercial ones are artificially flavored and colored and filled with ice-hard ice cream, that didn’t surprise me. One day, I promised my friend David Chang of Momofuku that I’ d make fresh mochi for him. It became a mission. Once I learned how to do it, I found that it really wasn’t difficult at all to make the tender, sweet rice dough and flavor it naturally. And since I fill mochi with a compote, they’re fork-tender. The basil fluid gel is an ideal herbal foil to the compote. I use 2-inch demisphere molds when I make mochi, but I’ve found that an egg carton works fine. The secret to the dough is working quickly. This recipe makes twice as much as you need for the fourplay, but I hardly consider leftover mochi a problem. The mochi will keep for 1 day in the refrigerator.

　　

Ingredients

serves 10 on it¿s own or 20 as part of a fourplay

　　

For the Basil Fluid Gel

Packed 3/4 cup (37g) fresh basil leaves

　　1/3 cup (80g) Simple Syrup (page 184)

　　1/3 cup (80g) water

　　1 teaspoon (4g) sugar

　　1/2 teaspoon (2g) agar

　　

For the Mochi

Potato starch

　　Scant 1/2 cup (10g) freeze-dried strawberries (see Note)

　　Scant 1/3 cup (60 g) sugar

　　1 cup (140g) Mochiko rice flour (see Note)

　　Coarse salt

　　3/4 to 1 cup (180 to 240g) cold water

　　Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote (page 250)

　　(makes about 20)

　　

To Serve

Freeze-dried strawberries (optional)

　　Micro basil (or thinly sliced fresh basil leaves; optional)

　　

For the Basil Fluid Gel

Step 1

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the basil and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain and refresh immediately under cold running water. Squeeze out all the water.

　　

Step 2

Set up an ice bath in a large bowl.

　　

Step 3

Put the basil in a blender with the simple syrup and the 1/3 cup water. Blend until bright green, smooth, and thin in consistency. Pour into a medium bowl, set it into the ice bath, and infuse for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine strainer, discarding the solids.

　　

Step 4

Blend the sugar and agar together well, then pour the syrup into the blender. Turn the blender to low and sift the sugar and agar into the vortex. Blend for 1 minute.

　　

Step 5

Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.

　　

Step 6

Put the gel back into the blender and blend until very smooth. Strain through a fine strainer. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

　　

For the Mochi

Step 7

Dust twenty 2-inch demisphere molds with potato starch or line two empty egg cartons with plastic wrap and dust lightly with potato starch.

　　

Step 8

Put the strawberries in a spice grinder and process to a fine powder.

　　

Step 9

Whisk the strawberry powder with the sugar, mochiko flour, and a pinch of salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Add 3/4 cup cold water and mix into a smooth paste. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 90 seconds. Stir. If the dough is very tight, stir in a little more water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 1 minute. The dough will darken and become opaque.

　　

Step 10

Dust a work surface heavily with potato starch. Working quickly, roll the warm dough 1/16 inch thick. Cut 3 1/2-inch rounds of dough. Hold a round of dough in your palm and fill with 1 tablespoon strawberry-rhubarb compote. Pinch the dough closed, stretching it if necessary, and place, seam side down, in the mold. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.

　　

To Serve

Step 11

If desired, process a few strawberries in a spice grinder to a fine powder.

　　

Step 12

Make a smear of the basil fluid gel on a dessert plate and set a mochi on top. Garnish, if you want, with a few pinches of the strawberry powder and some basil leaves. Repeat for each serving.

　　

make it simpler

Step 13

In place of the compote, doctor all-natural strawberry-rhubarb preserves with some grated lemon zest and diced fresh strawberries. Instead of making the basil fluid gel, you could just puree the basil with the simple syrup, strain it, and use the puree as a sauce.

　　

what’s a fluid gel?

Step 14

Set with agar and then run through a blender, fluid gels land right in the middle between being a liquid and a solid. Because they can hold a shape, fluid gels take us beyond the pool of sauce on a plate and make all kinds of interesting presentations possible. And they pack super-intense flavors.

　　Cooks' Note

　　Freeze-dried strawberries (sold as Just Strawberries) are available in many good grocery stores. Mochiko rice flour is milled from glutinous, short-grained, sweet mochi rice. I use Mochiko Blue Star Brand, which is available at many Asian markets and online from Quickspice.com.

　　Reprinted with permission from Dessert Fourplay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Copyright © 2008 by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Published by Crown Publishing. All Rights Reserved.Johnny Iuzzini,, executive pastry chef of the world-renowned Jean Georges restaurant in New York City, won the award for Outstanding Pastry Chef from the James Beard Foundation in 2006. This is his first book.Roy Finamore, a publishing veteran of more than thirty years, has worked with many bestselling cookbook authors. He is the author of three books: One Potato, Two Potato; Tasty, which won a James Beard Foundation award; and Fish Without a Doubt.__