Fried ʻUlu Mochi (Hawaiian Breadfruit Mochi)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart pot or Dutch oven for frying
• •Deep-fry thermometer
• •Small cookie scoop or two spoons
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan

Instructions

1. 1

   Mash the ʻulu

   Mash the cooked ripe ʻulu until mostly smooth, with only small soft bits left. It should smell sweet and warm, a little like bread and banana meeting each other. If the ʻulu is dry, work in a spoonful of coconut milk. If it's watery, let it sit a few minutes so the mash tightens.

   Ripe ʻulu is the one for this. Firm green ʻulu is good food, but it gives a starchy fritter, not the soft, sweet chew this mochi wants.
2. 2

   Mix the dough

   In a wide bowl, stir together the mochiko, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the mashed ʻulu, coconut milk, egg, and vanilla, then fold until a sticky dough forms. It should be thicker than cake batter and softer than bread dough, able to hold on a spoon without running away.

3. 3

   Let it rest

   Rest the dough for 10 minutes while the mochiko drinks in the moisture from the ʻulu. This little pause matters. The outside fries more evenly, and the middle turns chewy instead of gummy. No rush the canoe crop.

4. 4

   Heat the oil

   Pour 2 inches of neutral oil into a heavy pot and heat to 340F to 350F. Keep the fire steady. Too cool and the mochi drinks oil; too hot and the outside browns before the center cooks through. Set a rack or paper towel-lined tray nearby.

5. 5

   Fry small rounds

   Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough and slide them carefully into the oil, frying 5 or 6 at a time so the pot doesn't crowd. Turn them as they puff and brown, 3 to 4 minutes total, until the outside is deep golden and lightly crisp, and the inside feels springy when pressed.

6. 6

   Sugar while warm

   Stir the rolling sugar with cinnamon if you're using it. While the mochi is still warm and glossy from the fryer, roll each piece through the sugar so it catches on the crisp little edges. Eat the first one standing up. That's how you know what the rest need.

7. 7

   Serve for sharing

   Pile the fried ʻulu mochi on a ti leaf or banana leaf and serve warm, family-style, with coffee, tea, or whatever is on the table. The outside should give a small crisp bite, then pull chewy and soft in the middle, sweet with the ʻulu still speaking underneath.

Chef Tips

• •Cook the ʻulu first by steaming, baking, or pressure cooking until a knife slides through with no fight. No blame the ʻulu if the dough is hard to mix; it just wasn't cooked soft enough yet.
• •Mochiko is not regular rice flour. You need sweet rice flour for the chew, the same family of texture Hawaiʻi knows from butter mochi and filled mochi.
• •If the dough feels loose, add mochiko 1 tablespoon at a time. If it feels stiff and dry, add coconut milk 1 tablespoon at a time. Eat what you have, but make the dough listen.
• •These are best warm, but leftovers still have a place. Reheat in an air fryer or a low oven until the edges wake back up. We no throw out good food.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook and mash the ʻulu up to 2 days ahead, then refrigerate it covered. Bring it closer to room temperature before mixing so the dough comes together easily.
• •Mix the dry ingredients the day before and keep them covered on the counter.
• •Fry close to serving time. The dough can rest in the fridge for up to 4 hours, but the finished mochi is at its best the same day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 40g)