My plans for a low-carb, low-fat, low-sugar new year ended about a month into 2019 when I met this dessert and fell in love.

It’s called Butter-Biko Mochi, and it’s what happens when a Filipino sticky rice cake meets a Japanese mochi and the two of them opt for togetherness. Everyone I gave it to — and I was like a crazy person, “Try this! You gotta try this!” — also fell in love, except one guy, who is one of those weirdos who doesn’t like mochi, so he doesn’t count.

The recipe is from Sandi Kato-Klutke, who for several years had a popular food booth at the farmers market at Kauai Community College. Butter-Biko was one of her specialties. At age 76, though, she has given all that up. “I got too old for all this nonsense.”

Kato-Klutke first tried the layered dessert at a party, then duplicated it using a Filipino biko recipe (also called bod-bod) from one friend, a Japanese butter mochi recipe from another. She tinkered with both and put them together to make her version.

She sent me her recipe in response to a request from Sarah Sugimura that was published in this space last month.

It’s not hard, but takes patience: First you cook a batch of mochi rice, which becomes the bottom biko layer once mixed with a healthy amount of coconut milk and brown sugar. The butter mochi batter is poured over the biko layer and the whole thing is baked for an hour.

It emerges a little crusty on top, a little chewy on the bottom, with a lovely butteriness.

The original recipe made two pans full; I’ve cut it in half to make it easier to prepare at home.

Kato-Klutke’s tips: Normally you’d cook a set amount of mochi rice with an equal amount of water, but she removes a bit of liquid to give the end product more firmness. And she only uses Koda Farms Blue Star mochiko. She prefers the texture she gets from this brand, which luckily is the one most commonly sold locally.

My tip: When we were photographing the mochi we discovered that it looks really good cut into triangles.

BUTTER-BIKO MOCHI

By Sandi Kato-Klutke

>> Biko layer:

• 2-1/2 cups mochi rice (sweet rice)
• Water to soak and cook rice
• 1-1/2 cups unpacked dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup coconut milk

>> Butter mochi layer:

• 1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) softened butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1-1/2 cups mochiko (Koda brand preferred)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

>> To make biko layer: Wash rice 3 times, then soak in water at least an hour; drain well.

Cook rice in rice cooker or on stovetop following directions on bag, but adjust the amount of water: Cover rice with 2-1/2 cups water, then remove 2 tablespoons. Rice may also be cooked in a microwave: Combine with water in an 8-cup microwave-safe measuring cup and cook on high 18-20 minutes.

Let cooked rice cool 10 minutes.

Combine brown sugar with coconut milk. Pour over rice and mix well, breaking up any lumps of sugar. Let sit another 10 minutes.

Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Spread rice mixture over bottom of pan; smooth surface. Let cool 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

>> To make butter mochi layer: Cream butter with sugar, then add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions. Add baking powder and 1/2 the mochiko, mix well. Add 1/2 of coconut milk and vanilla; mix well. Mix in remaining mochiko and coconut milk. Pour batter over biko layer in pan; smooth surface. Bake 60-70 minutes, until center is well set.

Cool slightly; slice. Delicious when warm, but also good at room temperature. After 1 day, leftovers should be refrigerated. Microwave individual pieces about 5 seconds on high and they’ll turn warm and bouncy again.

>> NOTE: For a double batch using 2 baking pans, use 5 extra-large eggs. You will conveniently use up a full 16-ounce box of mochiko, a 16-ounce box of brown sugar and 2 (13.5-ounce) cans of coconut milk.

Nutritional information unavailable.

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