Aloha all! We are happy to announce our first savory recipe! Back home in Hawaii we have 3 main fried meat dishes when ordering plate lunch; Meat Jun, Chicken Katsu, and Mochiko Chicken. Everyone has their favorite spot for these dishes and a debate on the topic could lead to a rubber slipper (sandal) across the head if you aren’t careful. 

Living on the mainland, without ready access to these dishes we decided to see if we could replicate one of the three, and decided on trying mochiko chicken. Now, good mochiko chicken in my humble opinion has three aspects that need to be accomplished. They need to be slightly sweet, crunchy, and have a slight stick to your teeth texture. We ended up using a family recipe and substituted the mochiko 1:1 with the mochi baking mix. The final product ended up on our dinner table (and bento boxes) for about a week straight. 

Along with the mochiko chicken, we also decided to pair it with a toasty-nutty black sesame waffle so you could make a complete meal using a single bag of mochi baking mix. 

We are truly excited for you guys to try the recipe and to hear your feedback on the results!

Equipment Required

• Saucepan 1.5 qt.
• Good for sauces, and scorched flour recipes.
• Warring WW200 Commercial
• If you are serious about waffles, this is a commercial grade iron that we use in our lab.
• Amazon Stainless Steel Whisk 14"
• Commercial grade stainless steel whisk.
• Stainless Steel Bowl
• A rule we carried from the kitchen to our homes; No Glass.

The Recipe

Mochiko Chicken

• Start by cutting chicken into 2 inch cubes and setting aside in a bowl or plastic bag.
• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and add the marinade to the chicken.
• Marinade chicken for at least 30 minutes.

• Mix in 200g or about 1/2 a bag of Manoa Baking mix to the marinade and chicken
• Mix all ingredients together and let rest until ready to fry.

• Set pan with fry oil to medium-high heat, or about 350F or 176C
• Fry until fully cooked and golden brown.

Black Sesame Mochi Waffles

• Preheat waffle iron to medium-high heat.
• Mix all ingredients together with a whisk.

• Pour batter into waffle iron.

• Cook waffles until fully cooked, waffles will turn slightly gloden when done.

 Pro tips...

• If you want a flavor that will be truer to the dish from back home. Add furikake and green onions to the mochiko chicken batter.
• While you are at it, sprinkle furikake onto the waffle iron when making the waffles for more depth.
• If you want the chicken to be a little sweeter, add some sugar or mirin into the marinade.
• Top with maple syrup, or try cooking the maple syrup on the stove with a little bit of shoyu for a salty-sweet alternative.