Chi chi dango is a Hawaiian mochi that often comes in multiple colored layers. I did a South East Asian twist on the flavors by using pandan and ube extracts.
Mochi Mommy is back with another chi chi dango recipe for you! And this one’s got some fun SE Asian flavors.
I’ve really been on an ube kick lately. (That’s right, I’m finally giving matcha a tiny break from my baking.) I don’t normally cook with too much ube, but lately I’ve been seeing more and more SE Asian flavors become popular among East Asian snacks. I know you can get some ube butter mochi in Hawaii, the mecca of Asian fusion, but I’m not sure if anyone sells ube and pandan chi chi dango.
What is Chi Chi Dango?
Chi chi dango is a Hawaiian mochi dessert/snack. Also sometimes called chi chi mochi or just “mochi,” it’s made from glutinous rice flour (aka mochiko), sugar, coconut milk, and water. Chi chi dango can be made in the microwave or baked in the oven. It’s often colored pink or green or sometimes with three different colored layers (see my recipe!).
You often see chi chi dango around Girls’ Day (Hinamatsuri) in Hawaii, but it is also eaten year round! You can also find chi chi dango at certain mochi shops on the mainland as well. If you’re interested in learning more about the difference between Hawaiian and Japanese mochi, definitely check out my Ultimate Guide to Mochi post!
This recipe uses the oven so you can make a large portion at once and evenly cook the layers.
Making Layered Mochi
Making different colored layered mochi is easier than it appears. All you do is cook the bottom layer until it’s just set enough to pour the next layer on top. Then you do it again. Overall, it takes about an hour to bake this mochi in the oven. You would definitely be able to cut down on cooking time by using the microwave, but I find doing layers in the microwave a little too unpredictable, so I don’t recommend it.
If you don’t want to do the multiple layers, you can pour all the batter in your dish and bake, covered, for one hour.
How to Get Ube and Pandan Flavors
Adding flavors to mochi is actually not that easy. I’ve tried using a variety of juices and mix-ins, but I’ve found that the best and easiest way to get flavor into mochi is to use extract. So for this recipe, I use ube and pandan extracts that I’ve bought from my local Japanese market. If you want to use ube jam or pandan purees/juice, feel free, but I can’t guarantee that the flavor will actually pull through.
More Mochi Recipes
If you liked this chi chi mochi recipe, check out these other Hawaiian mochi desserts!
- Classic Hawaiian Butter Mochi
- Easy Chi Chi Dango Homemade Mochi
- Tricolor Chi Chi Dango
- Chocolate Butter Mochi
- Matcha Butter Mochi
Ube Pandan Mochi (Chi Chi Dango)
Ingredients
- 1 16 oz box mochiko
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp pandan extract
- 1/2 tsp ube extract
- Green and purple food coloring optional
- Katakuriko for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mix together mochiko, sugar, coconut milk, and water in a large bowl, making sure no dry lumps of mochiko remain.
- Separate mochi batter into thirds.
- Add pandan extract to one third and ube extract to another third. If your extracts do not already include food coloring, you can add a few drops of purple to the ube batter and green to the pandan batter. Leave remaining third white.
- Pour the green mochi batter into a well greased 9×13” pan (I recommend Pyrex so it doesn’t stick).
- Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, or until the layer is set.
- Carefully pour white mochi batter on top of baked green layer.
- Return to oven and bake again for another 15 minutes or until set.
- Carefully pour purple mochi batter on top of the white.
- Cover entire dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until mochi is cooked through.
- Uncover mochi and let cool down to room temperature.
- Turn out the mochi onto a surface dusted with katakuriko and slice into rectangles (use a plastic knife or pizza cutter to prevent mochi from sticking to the knife). Continue dusting with katakuriko as needed to prevent sticking.
- Leftover chi chi dango can be saved in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.