Baked Poi Mochi
January 1: New Year’s Day
Islander grew up eating Filipino bibingka during the holidays, special occasions and “just because” in Hawaii. Other Asian immigrants on the islands have a similar sweet treat, like Japanese mochi and Chinese gau, for the new year. The glutinous rice is considered an auspicious food. Its stickiness symbolizes that good luck would stick with you throughout the coming year.
In a Hawaiian twist, Islander added poi powder to the mochi and coconut flakes for a tropical taste. We let our haole neighbors try a little bit of poi mochi for a mainland mini makahiki. Some liked its novelty while others were not used to the gooey texture. At least they tried something new for the new year!
Bake poi mochi for the new year and may good luck stick around! Hauoli makahiki hou.
Recipe
(Adapted from Taro Brand)
Ingredients
- 2 cups mochiko (sweet rice flour)
- ½ – ¾ cup poi powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 ½ cup sugar, granulated white
- 1 ½ cup milk
- 1 (14 ounces) can or 1 ½ cup evaporated milk
- 5 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
- purple food coloring (optional)
- 1-2 cup coconut flakes (we used unsweetened)
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, combine the mochiko, poi powder, baking powder and sugar.
Stir in the milk and evaporated milk. Beat in the eggs. Add the vanilla extract.
Melt the butter and cool slightly. Stir into the mixture. Tint with purple food coloring if desired. Fold in the coconut flakes. Pour into a lightly greased 9×13-inch pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes to an hour. Check for doneness with a toothpick. Remove from the oven and cool completely before slicing into 24 squares with a plastic knife. Store leftovers in a tightly sealed container.
Notes
- The coconut flakes tend to rise to the top in this recipe, making the crust brown and crunchy. As the top can burn easily, place the pan in the middle or lowest rack in the oven.
- There are deep-fried versions of poi mochi balls that Islander likes to eat when she finds them while in Hawaii. This baked custard-like version is simpler to make.
- Mahalo nui loa to Islander’s brother who gifted us with the wooden model poi pounders pictured above.
- Search our blog for other recipes containing poi as an ingredient.
- Happy new year to all our blog readers!
HI COOKERY 
February 28, 2018 at 12:46 am
Could you use regular poi instead of the powder.
March 20, 2018 at 1:32 pm
Sorry for the late reply. We were out of the country for spring break. We have not tried using regular poi instead of the powder as we cannot get the real thing on the mainland and had to resort to powder. I’m sure you can use regular poi in the recipe but need to adjust the liquid measurements somehow. When I go home to Hawaii, I may have to buy real poi and try to make this mochi recipe again. Mahalo for visiting our blog.
November 16, 2018 at 6:51 pm
Using fresh poi do you cut down the milk. So if I tried 1/2 cup fresh poi decrease the milk to 1 cup? How would that taste?
November 25, 2018 at 2:43 am
Aloha, Sheri. I’m sorry but I don’t know the answer to your question regarding the milk measurements if using fresh poi. Powdered poi has a much different consistency than fresh poi, the latter being much thicker. Decreasing the milk a bit could help and it would not affect the taste. It would probably just affect the batter being less runny or not. Since we live on the mainland now, we are curious as to how your results turned out with fresh poi. We have found frozen poi at some of our Asian grocery stores but have not tried it in this recipe. Best of luck!
October 27, 2020 at 3:37 pm
Where did you get your powdered poi?
October 28, 2020 at 1:31 am
My mom sent the poi powder from Hawaii. You can order it from Taro Brand website but I’ve also seen it sold on eBay and Amazon. They’re a little pricey so if you have a connection (family or friend) from Hawaii, they could probably find it cheaper and send it to you. But then again it might end up costing the same with postage and waiting for it to arrive. Mahalo for stopping by our blog.