Sweet Potato Mochi Balls with Gochujang Butter Sauce

Preparation

Prep sweet potatoes and make dough

In a pot of boiling water, boil whole sweet potatoes for 25 minutes until completely softened and a knife easily pierces through them. Allow them to cool, then peel the skins off and discard. The weight of the boiled sweet potatoes should be 1 1/2 pounds. Place sweet potatoes into a large mixing bowl and mash with a fork until smooth like mashed potatoes.

In a separate bowl, mix together corn starch, glutinous rice flour, and kosher salt. Pour into the mixing bowl of mashed sweet potatoes and knead with hands. It'll start out feeling like a clumpy but don't worry! It'll come together after a few minutes of kneading. Once the dough has come together, continue kneading on a work surface until it becomes a smooth ball of dough that feels like the consistency of Play-Doh.

Make balls

Take a small chunk of dough and with your hands and roll into a smooth ball the size of a grape. Repeat until you've used all the dough.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Drop the mochi balls in and boil for 2 minutes until cooked through and chewy on the inside. Save 2/3 cups of the mochi water, then drain the mochi balls and set aside with a drizzle of oil so they don't stick to each other.

Make sauce and assemble

In a large pan on medium heat, melt butter. Add the mochi water along with parmesan, gochujang, kosher salt, brown sugar, and rice vinegar. Mix everything together until combined and continue to simmer and stir for 4 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Add mochi balls into the pan and stir until evenly coated with sauce. Serve in bowls with a sprinkle of sesame and finely chopped scallion and enjoy!