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Maple Mochi
30-60 minutes beforeSoft, chewy rice cakes made from glutinous rice flour, water, and maple, microwaved in minutes. Barely sweet, all starch, and what Japanese runners reach for on long efforts when they can't face another gel.
- When
30-60 minutes beforeDetails
Pure starch, no fat, no fiber. Chewy enough to feel like food but it empties from the stomach almost as fast as a gel.
- Why it works
- Glutinous rice is almost pure starch, which digests to glucose without the fructose load of fruit or syrup gels. The chew forces you to eat slowly, and the low sweetness resets a palate that has been on sugar for hours. Salt adds a little sodium. Maple is there for taste, not the carb count.
- Wrong time
- Fine any time in the last hour. The only wrong version is eating it 3 hours out and expecting it to last; it is fast carbs, not a meal.
- How much
- 2 pieces (42 g carb) 30-60 minutes before.
- On the run
- Soft for a day at room temperature, firm by day two. Do not refrigerate. Dust with starch so pieces don't stick to each other in a pocket. Chew thoroughly; it is dense.
- Replaces
- The rice cakes and mochi sold at ultra aid stations, about $0.10 per piece.
- Fits
- Easy runWorkoutLong runRace
- GI risk
- Medium GI risk
Mochi
Glutinous rice flour (mochiko or shiratamako) is sold in most Asian grocery stores; it is a different flour from regular rice flour and the recipe won't work without it. The dough is very sticky, so dust everything with potato starch or cornstarch. Mochi hardens in the fridge; keep pieces at room temperature and eat within two days, or freeze and thaw.
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Whisk the rice flour, water, maple syrup, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl until smooth with no lumps.
Cover loosely and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir with a wet spatula. Microwave 1 more minute, stir, then 30-60 seconds more until the dough is translucent, glossy, and very thick.
Dust a board generously with starch. Turn the hot dough out, dust the top, and press or roll it into a rough 15 cm square about 1.5 cm thick.
Let it cool 10 minutes, then cut into 8 pieces with a starch-dusted knife. Dust off the excess and wrap pieces in parchment.
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Will eventually be released to the Apple App Store and Android Play Store.