Muah Chee 麻糍 (Microwave Recipe)
Pasar malams bring back very fond memories of living in Pasir Ris with my siblings. My elder sis used to take my brother and I to the night market near the MRT and we would stuff ourselves silly with the endless variety of food. One of my favourites is Muah Chee! I was always strangely, oddly fascinated by the muah chee seller - she's use a large pair of scissors to snip a portion of mochi in a steamer, throw it into a large container filled with peanut and sugar, toss away to coat while continually snipping into smaller portions, then placing the fully coated pieces into a small plastic container and securing it with a red rubber band with two toothpicks slotted underneath. I even thought of selling muah chee when I got older lol. That desire no longer true but I do enjoy remaking this at home to relive that little childhood memory.
I use a microwave VS steaming for convenience, and find that it works for me especially when I just want it quick and fuss-free.
There are options to coat the mochi either with with ground peanuts or black sesame. You can either purchase directly off the shelves, or mix your own to control the sugar level.
Similar to mochi, Muah Chee is a sticky, chewy glutinous rice cakes coated with ground peanuts and sugar. This easy recipe takes minutes to come together, allowing for quick Muah Chee craving fixes anytime!
- 120 g glutinous rice flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 13 g oil (vegetable oil, or shallot oil)
- 175 g water
- 70 g ground peanuts
- 35 g sugar
- 70 g ground black sesame
- 35 g sugar
In a microwave-safe bowl, add glutinous rice flour, sugar, salt, oil, water and mix to combine.
Microwave in intervals of 60s, mixing well until mochi is cooked (semi translucent) and leave it to cool.
Prepare coating by mixing ground peanuts or black sesame and sugar.
Add mochi to topping mixture. Cut into smaller pieces, toss to coat further.
Serve immediately. Do not let it sit for too long as it will release moisture and turn wet.
- Traditional recipes typically use shallot oil but since that is not readily available in my pantry I use vegetable oil instead.
- Tweak peanut/sesame to sugar ratio based on your preference.