| Butter mochi | |
| Type: | Confection |
| Course: | Dessert |
| Associated Cuisine: | Hawaiian cuisine |
| Place Of Origin: | Hawaii |
| Main Ingredient: |
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| Similar Dish: | Bibingka |
Butter mochi is a cake made from coconut milk, glutinous rice flour, and butter and is a popular dessert in Hawaiian cuisine.
Butter mochi combines textures and flavors of its two main influences, mochi and cake. It features a similar chewy ("Q") texture as mochi,[1] but less pronounced through the addition of traditional cake ingredients such as eggs and butter as well as leavening introduced via baking powder.[2]
Unlike other mochi, Butter mochi is baked rather than steamed, lending it a color and texture comparable to blondies and chess pie.
The exact origins of butter mochi are unknown. As its primary ingredient, glutinous rice flour, is commonly used in Japan, it is potentially influenced by Japanese immigration to Hawaii, making it a part of fusion cuisine.
It can also be considered a descendant of bibingka, a similar cake from Filipino cuisine.[3] [4]