Having starved all year round... this October, a “Very Hungry Caterpillar” is coming for you... in the form of a snaking dochi creepy-crawly!

With a chewy dochi (mochi donut) body, pistachio fur, and a ruby chocolate carapace, this creepy crawly bares its chocolatey fangs!

The only proper defense is to devour this beast with gusto this Halloween. 

To make this tasty beastie, we used the BRUNO Hotplate and its takoyaki plate: its dimples are just the thing with which to fry up and shape your dochi into perfect spheres! 

So simple to make, you can even rope in your little ones to work on this amusing project together - a great way to get into the Halloween mood~

Delving into the deets

Dochi 

Glutinous rice flour is used in mochi donuts to elevate the humble donut to a new tier of QQ (chewy) goodness. A fusion dessert that’s deceptively easy to make, dochi requires few specialty ingredients and no complicated techniques! 

Silken tofu

The tofu in this recipe makes the dochi bouncier and lighter. Silken tofu is widely available at local supermarkets, alternatively, it's often sold fresh at your neighbourhood wet market too.  

Cocoa frosting 

This frosting is used to adorn your hungry caterpillar with its fearsome features. The use of Dutch process cocoa powder in it is encouraged as gives the frosting a darker colour, giving you more striking lines when used for drawing, but normal cocoa powder can be used too. 

Ruby chocolate glaze

A super simple one ingredient glaze, this melted ruby chocolate sauce makes for a pretty pink coating that also imparts a subtle berry flavour. Ruby chocolate couvertures are commonly available at baking supply shops.    

Of course, feel free to decorate your Very Hungry Caterpillar in anyway you adore! 

Recipe

Steps

Dochi dough

1. Sift the dry ingredients: sugar, glutinous rice flour, baking powder, and all-purpose flour, into a large mixing bowl. 
2. Into another bowl, press the tofu through a fine-mesh sieve, scraping the bottom of the sieve with a spatula to pass all of it through. 
3. Crack the egg into the tofu, and add the water. Briefly beat this wet mix with a whisk to combine. 
4. Add the tofu and egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula.
5. When a sandy dough has taken shape, knead it with your hands to bring it all together (~ 2 - 4 mins). The dough is ready when it bounces back after being indented with your finger.   
6. Roll out 24 dochi balls with your hands, with each ball weighing approximately 15 g. 

Frying 

1. Set up your BRUNO Hotplate with its takoyaki plate. Heat it up on LOW - MED and add oil to each dimple till they're approximately 1/4 full. Allow the oil to heat up for 3 mins.
2. Add one dochi ball to each divet starting from the sides of the hotplate.
3. Continuously flip them with takoyaki picks/ bamboo skewers to cook them equally on all sides (~ 10 - 15 mins).  
4. When the dochi are a light golden brown on all sides, move them to a plate to let them cool.

Cocoa Frosting

1. With a whisk, beat the softened butter and cocoa powder together until it is mixed through and smooth.
2. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well between each addition.
3. Add salt, then the whipping cream one tablespoon at a time until the mix reaches a pipeable consistency.
4. Transfer half of the frosting into a small squeeze bottle or a piping bag with a fine round nozzle. 

Ruby glaze

1. Fill your BRUNO Grill Pot with approximately 500 ml of water and set the temperature to MED.
2. Place the ruby chocolate couvertures in a large heat-safe bowl. When the water is hot, but not boiling, with visible steam wafting off its surface, place the bowl over the top of the grill pot so that it rests snugly on its rim.
3. Stir the ruby chocolate with a spatula so that it melts evenly (~ 1 min). 
4. When it has melted through, turn off the heat and dip half of each cooked dochi balls in the molten chocolate, then set each chocolate-coated dochi on a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle some ground pistachios over the top.

Arrangement 

1. Onto a large slate or shallow plate, apply dollops of chocolate frosting onto the plate with a spoon arranging them in a large ‘S’ shape, this will be used to hold the dochi balls in place. 
2. Plant the dochi balls on top of the frosting pattern with the ruby chocolate covered sides facing upwards.  
3. Pipe chocolate frosting the caterpillar’s body to fill in its features: legs, mouth, and any other details. Place two currants on the head of the caterpillar for eyes.
4. Garnish by sprinkling more ground pistachio over the top.

Your Very Hungry dochi Caterpillar is now ready to terrorize/ delight trick-or-treaters!

Happy Halloween~~~