I mentioned a while ago that a friend and I tried a bacon-wrapped mochi appetizer dish for the first time at Soba Totto. Of course, it was exceedingly delicious so we ordered another plate at the end as our dessert. Yes, bacon totally counts as dessert.

I bought uncooked blocks of mochi weeks ago, and finally got around to getting some bacon. As someone who isn’t very well-versed in cooking meat, I procrastinated a while before settling on some dry-rubbed uncured bacon.

This morning I woke in a daze and went outside to chase the sunlight. I walked around the city until it got chilly, then went home to try my hand at making this bacon dish. A few modifications, as I was unable to procure some yakitori skewers. Also, I used a cast iron skillet rather than grill, but you can do it either way. Otherwise, pretty delicious and easy.

Happy sun daze.

(you can see that I was kind of hungry already and snacking on some almonds on the side…)

Ingredients

• 16 mochi blocks (rice cakes) – (got mine at the amazing Sunrise Mart in SoHo)
• 8 bacon slices, cut into halves – (got mine at Trader Joe’s)
• Soy sauce and mirin mixed together, about 2 tablespoons each

Cooking Instruction

1. In a small pot, bring water to a tumbling boil on high heat. Carefully drop in all of the mochi blocks and cook for a few minutes until the mochi is floating on top. It will be very sticky! I confess that I kind of had to resist playing with the mochi like play-doh. I used tongs to scoop them out of the boiling water and place them on a place. Make sure that there is space between each mochi so they don’t stick together. Don’t worry if they are slightly touching, it’s kind of fun to unstick them.

2. Wrap each cooked mochi block in a bacon slice to create a little bacon burrito. If you have skewers, you can slide a few onto a stick. I just put them directly onto my skillet. Mix together soy sauce and mirin in a bowl.

3. Heat a non-stick (I used cast iron) skillet over medium high heat. Place the bacon-wrapped mochi on the skillet (either with or without skewers) and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until the bacon is crispy. I used a pastry brush to drizzle some soy sauce/mirin combo on each one. Place skewers on a serving plate. Drizzle each bacon-wrapped mochi with more soy sauce/mirin mixture if you prefer.

Don’t worry, it’s not really that pretty of a concoction in the end unless you’re really really careful about the bacon wrapping – taste is what matters. The sticky, chubby mochi is unbearably cute though.