Coconut Shaved Ice with Matcha (Green Tea) Mini Mochi

Still remember I’ve got myself a shaved ice machine this Spring?  We’ve been enjoying some Fresh Mango Shaved Ice (recipe here) for a while.  Of course, you know I won’t just stop there with one flavor.  Let me present to you, my latest obsession: Coconut Shaved Ice with Matcha Mini Mochi!  It’s delightful to look at as well as to consume!  With the steamy temperature out there, this shaved ice treat will sure cool you off from the inside out!  Let me assure you, this treat makes doing homework and studying in the hot afternoon a lot more enjoyable (at least for me, it was sure the case)!  Hang in there, the summer vacation is almost here, almost!



The first time I had this type of shaved ice dessert was at a Taiwanese café.  The café was specialized in different kinds of street food from Taiwan and the shaved ice bar was one of them.  You can order your shaved ice there with different kinds of fruit, sweet beans, jelly and/or toppings.  However, the shaved ice that they served was just plain ice.  I gave it an upgrade and turn it into coconut shaved ice here.  Simply freeze the coconut water in ice cube trays and you've got coconut ice.  After shaving (the coconut ice), I pour some coconut milk on top to give some richness.   



There are several components in this dessert.  The great news is that you can (and should) prepare some of them the day before so they have time to chill, especially the sweetened red beans and the coconut ice cubes for the shaved ice.  The rest are pretty straight forward.  One of the ingredients I used here was Nata de coco.  Nata de coco is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like treat made with coconut water.  It was originated in the Philippines.  Cubes of nata de coco are widely used in Filipino cuisine for cold desserts, and is one of the traditional ingredients in halo-halo.  I felt in love with Nata de coco the first time I tried it many many years ago.  For this recipe, I used a store bought bottle such as this one here.  They are available in most Asian supermarkets.  With this versatile dessert, you can pretty much top it with anything your heart fancies for.  That's the beauty of this simple dessert.



To see the pictorial on how to make the Sweetened Red Bean, you can check out this link here.  The tips to keep the red beans whole and not turned into paste, is to shake the pot gently and not stirring the beans.   So, the last component left for this dessert is the Matcha Mini Mochi.  Want to see how I made them?  Please follow me to the kitchen!

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the glutinous rice flour and matcha powder until incorporated.

2) In a medium pot, bring water to a boil. Add sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until all sugar dissolved. 

3) Remove from heat and add glutinous flour mixture all at once and stir quickly to combine.

4) Set stove to the lowest heat setting and return pot to stove, stir mochi dough until no lumps. It'll be very
hard to stir at the end as the dough thickened (that also means it's ready). Remove from heat.

5) Let the mochi dough cool down a bit until it's not too hot to handle.  Generously, sprinkle potato starch on a rolling mat or silpat, coat your hands with potato starch and take a small piece of the matcha mochi and roll it into a long log. 

6) Slightly dust the pastry cutter with potato starch and cut the mochi into bite size piece.  Alternatively, you can also grease your hands with a little cooking oil and roll the mochi into small balls.  That’s what I did with those shown in the picture above.



The Matcha mochi is slightly sweetened and taste pretty mild on it’s own.  But it’s a great addition to this dessert for a tender, yet chewy texture and wonderful matcha flavor.  Drizzling some sweetened condense milk on top right before you serve brings this dessert home.  I hope you enjoy today's recipe and pictorial.  Please stay tuned for some awesome giveaway in the future post.  Stay sweet and stay cool!





Tools, Props and Ingredients Used in this Post:

Snow Cone Machine (Click here for more information)
Small Bamboo Spoon (Click here to see similar product)
Nata de coco (Click here to see similar product)
Organic Coconut Water (Click here for more information)
Matcha Powder (Click here for more information)
Adzuki Red Beans (Click here for more information)
Glutenous Rice Flour (Click here for more information)
Organic Sweetened Condense Milk (Click here for more information)
Ceramic Rice Bowls (click here to see similar product)
Bamboo Placemats (Click here for more information)







Coconut Shaved Ice with Matcha (Green Tea) Mochi:

Ingredients for the Sweetened Red Beans  (自家製紅豆沙餡料):
1 Cup Azuki Bean (dry)
4 ounce cane sugar (片糖)
water for soaking and cooking
a pinch of kosher salt


To Prepare the Sweetened Red Beans: 
Place Azuki beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water at least an inch above the top of the beans. Cover with plastic wrap and let them soak overnight.

The next day, transfer the beans to a strainer and rinse under cold tap water. Discard the soaking water. Place bean in a large pot and add just enough water to cover the beans. Cook on medium high until water comes up to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If you prefer the red beans to stay whole, do not stir the beans but shake the pot to move the beans once in a while to ensure even cooking.

Taste a bean and it should be tender. Then, add the cane sugar and salt and turn up the heat to medium high. Cook uncovered and shake the pot occasionally until water is almost all absorbed by the beans. Remove from heat, let cool and store in the fridge until ready to use.

Ingredients for the Matcha Mochi:
5 ounces glutinous rice flour
1 tablespoon Matcha powder
1 cup Water
1/3 Cup sugar
2 tablespoons potato starch for coating and rolling

To prepare the Matcha Mochi:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the glutinous rice flour and matcha powder until incorporated.
In a medium pot, bring water to a boil. Add sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until all sugar dissolved.

Remove from heat and add glutinous flour mixture all at once and stir quickly to combine. Set stove to the lowest heat setting and return pot to stove, stir mochi dough until no lumps. It'll be very hard to stir at the end as the dough thickened (that also means it's ready). Remove from heat.

Let dough cool down a bit until it's not too hot to handle.  Sprinkle potato starch in a rolling mat or silpat, coat your hands with potato starch and take a small piece of the matcha mochi and roll it into a long log.  Slightly dust the pastry cutter with potato starch and cut the mochi into bite size piece.

Alternatively, you can also grease your hands with a little cooking oil and roll the mochi into small balls.  That’s what I did with those shown in the bowls.

Ingredients for the Coconut Shaved Ice:
2 cups coconut water
1 cup Nata de coco
1 cup cantaloupe, diced or cut into bite size pieces with a cookie cutter
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
sweetened condense milk to serve

To Prepare the Coconut Shaved Ice:
Pour coconut water into ice cube trays and freeze until frozen.  At least 4 hours (depending on the size of the tray), preferably overnight.  When ready to make the shaved ice, follow your snow cone machine’s manufacturer’s menu for instructions.  Mine is pretty easy, all I did was put the coconut water ice cubes in the provided tray and turn on the machine.  And freshly shaved coconut ice is ready to enjoy. 

I prefer to serve mine in a bowl,  with a good amount of coconut milk on the shaved ice.  Then, top with sweetened red beans, Matcha mochi, cantaloupe, Nata de coco, and last but not least, a drizzle of sweetened condense milk on top.