{"id":110421,"title":"Easy Mochi","modified":"2025-10-29T17:02:49+01:00","plain":"An ultra-quick recipe for Japanese mochi\n\n\n\nHomemade green tea mochi is soft, chewy, and sweet, with a delicious matcha flavor and a beautiful green color.\n\n\n\nThis classic Japanese treat is easy to make at home\u2014and better than your favorite restaurant\u2019s, satisfaction guaranteed!\n\n\n\nPlus, you can customize the filling (or filling, if we\u2019re being simple) with sweet red bean paste, strawberry, or ice cream for ice cream mochi. Black sesame paste is fantastic too. It takes less than 15 minutes to make these matcha mochi, and they\u2019re perfect as a dessert after a meal or as a snack with a hot cup of green tea.\n\n\n\nMy ice cream mochi recipe\n\n\n\nWhat is mochi?\n\n\n\nMochi\u2014more precisely, daifuku\u2014are Japanese confections made with a filling wrapped in a layer of very chewy, sweet glutinous rice dough.\n\n\n\nThey\u2019re popular worldwide, and it\u2019s rare these days to meet someone who hasn\u2019t seen them. As for tasting them, people tend to either love them or hesitate\u2014but even that\u2019s becoming rarer.\n\n\n\nDaifuku or mochi?\n\n\n\nMarketing can be misleading. What we commonly call mochi are actually daifuku, while mochi traditionally refers to the rice dough itself. It can be sweet or savory and is used in many different Japanese preparations.\n\n\n\nFor a modern parallel, in my circle some people call galette des rois a \u201cfrangipane,\u201d but technically frangipane is just the almond cream that fills the galette. Same idea here: the term mochi for daifuku has become so popular that, while purists may complain, most people will understand you perfectly if you say mochi instead of daifuku.\n\n\n\nThat said, while trivial for most, this fun fact might help you impress a date at a fancy Japanese restaurant\u2014Valentine\u2019s Day is coming up, after all...\n\n\n\nPersonally, I\u2019ll use the terms interchangeably in this article.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nInside, mochi (\u62b9\u8336\u5927\u798f) can hold all kinds of fillings: sweet red bean paste, mung bean paste, ice cream, and my favorite, black sesame paste.\n\n\n\nIn this recipe, I make the mochi with green tea (matcha) and fill them with red bean paste. They look great, but you can easily customize them with your favorite fillings\u2014no stress. You don\u2019t even have to use matcha; make them plain if you like.\n\n\n\nHow to make homemade mochi?\n\n\n\nWe use the microwave method to prepare the mochi dough\u2014it\u2019s the simplest way and takes only a few minutes.\n\n\n\nWhisk together the glutinous rice flour, sugar, and matcha powder. Add the water and whisk until completely dissolved.\n\n\n\nCover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRemove and stir with a damp spatula. Cover and microwave for 30 seconds more, until the dough turns slightly translucent.\n\n\n\nTransfer the mochi dough to parchment paper dusted with cornstarch. Dust more cornstarch over the dough. Divide into 4 equal portions and flatten each into a circle. You can easily stretch the dough with your hands.\n\n\n\nScoop some red bean paste and place it in the center of each mochi wrapper. Pinch the four corners of the wrapper together, then pinch the remaining edges to seal.\n\n\n\nPat the base of each mochi with cornstarch. Gently brush the assembled matcha mochi with a pastry brush to remove any excess cornstarch.\n\n\n\nHow to store mochi?\n\n\n\nStore in an airtight container in the refrigerator; they\u2019ll keep for up to 2 days. They taste best the day they\u2019re made.\n\n\n\nFor another Japanese dessert with matcha, try my black sesame lava cakes\n\n\n\nWhat does matcha mochi taste like?\n\n\n\nThe mochi layer is sticky-chewy with a lovely earthy matcha flavor (if you love matcha, you\u2019ll be thrilled). The red bean paste filling is sweet and creamy\u2014I\u2019m a fan.\n\n\n\nHow to make ice cream mochi?\n\n\n\nIn summer, alongside a Korean melon bingsu, you might crave something extra refreshing. While we\u2019re on Korean sweets, try gyeongdan\u2014the Korean mochi.\n\n\n\nYou have two options:\n\n\n\n\nMake the classic recipe, then freeze.\n\n\n\nMake the dough and wrap it around the ice cream or sorbet of your choice. Work quickly. Freeze, then enjoy 1 hour later.\n\n\n\n\nAnother delicious dessert filled with red bean paste is dorayaki\n\n\n\nWhich flour to use for mochi?\n\n\n\nUse glutinous rice flour\u2014nothing else will do. There\u2019s no substitute. It\u2019s responsible for mochi\u2019s signature texture. It\u2019s the same flour used for dango.\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\tUltra-Easy Mochi\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t50 g glutinous rice flour25 g sugar0.5 tsp matcha powder90 ml watercornstarch, for dusting200 g red bean paste (sweetened (or any filling you like))\t\n\t\n\t\tIn a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and matcha powder. Add the water and whisk until smooth.Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Remove and stir with a damp spatula.Cover and microwave for another 30 seconds, until the dough is slightly translucent.Place a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface and generously dust it with cornstarch.Transfer the mochi dough onto the parchment. Dust the top with more cornstarch. Knead briefly.Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Flatten each into a circle with your hands.Place the red bean paste in the center of each dough round.Gather the edges to enclose the filling and pinch to seal.Gently brush the assembled matcha mochi to remove any excess cornstarch.\t\n\t\n\t\tIf the dough is too sticky, add more starch.\u00a0\nThe dough will be very hot when it comes out of the microwave, but it\u2019s important to work it while it\u2019s hot. You can let it cool slightly, but there\u2019s a risk it will cool too much. Don\u2019t hesitate to use large spoons, chopsticks, or spatulas to handle it. Personally, I like to use a pestle in my mortar\u00a0\n\t\n\t\n\t\tDessert, SnackJaponaise","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110530,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110421\/revisions\/110530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}