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1
Heat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F). Grease a rectangular baking pan thoroughly. Combine mochiko flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl and whisk to distribute the leavening evenly — the dry mix should be uniform in colour with no visible streaks.
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2
Add the eggs, melted butter, coconut milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Mix until a smooth, pourable batter forms with no lumps of flour remaining — the batter will be thinner than a cake batter and will carry a faint coconut fragrance.
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3
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place on the centre rack. Bake for approximately 60 minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: remove the pan when the top is fully golden-brown and the edges are set, but the centre still moves with a distinct, slow jiggle when the pan is nudged — the interior must not be firm. An over-baked mochi will be dry and hard; an under-baked one will have a raw, gluey centre. The jiggle is the sign to stop.
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4
Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the pan at room temperature without cutting. The mochi continues to set as it cools; cutting too soon yields a gooey, collapsing square. The surface will lose its sheen and feel firm to the touch at the edges when it is ready.
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5
Cut into squares with a sharp knife. The interior should be pale, dense, and uniformly chewy — neither sticky-wet nor crumbling dry. The top should show a distinct golden-brown crust with a faint butterscotch note on the nose.