Easy Japanese Mochi Recipe - with green tea & rice flour

I still remember roaming through the streets of Osaka during my latest visit to Japan. With the country’s unique and animated culture, there were literally a million things catching my eye as I strolled through Japan’s colorful streets, but one of the things that left the deepest impression was spotting some of the most adorable mochi in one of the marketplace food stands. Lined in perfectly straight rows, were a bunch of colorful and mini-sized mochi, all beautiful, uniquely shaped, and individually wrapped. They were like tiny little cute toys except for the wonderful fact that they were edible.

Must give credit to the Japanese for finding a way of making everything “kawaii”, from their clothes to their cars, and even their food. Honestly, these little bite sized sweet treats were all just incredibly adorable, almost to the point where they were too cute to eat. It’s to the point where I just wanted to grab them all, throw them into my suitcase, and bring a whole luggage of mochi back home, how great would that be. Of course I didn’t, although the temptation was seriously hard to resist. Good news is that mochi is simple enough to be made in your very own kitchen. Although of course, the ones from your kitchen counter top wouldn’t be as fancy as the ones in Osaka, but that soft, chewy, and incredibly good taste of mochi is the same everywhere, plus adding your own personal touch would make it even more special.

Mochi, a Japanese rice cake made from short-grained glutinous rice, is usually pounded into paste and molded into various Japanese desserts. You can see mochi traditionally made during the Japanese ceremony of Mochitsuki, which literally translates into “making mochi.” The process is no easy task, requiring an entire day of steaming the glutinous rice, then turning the mochi in a stove until it all becomes smooth. Groups of families and friends usually gather together for Mochitsuki and eat their freshly made mochi as the first food of the New Year. However, mochi isn’t only eaten in Japan during New Year festivities, it’s pretty much well-loved anytime any day of the year. Due to mochi’s versatile cooking methods and flavors, it can be used in all types of desserts ranging from ice cream to sweet soup, either steamed, boiled, or pan fried.

If you tried out my Red Bean Soup recipe, and followed my advice of keeping the leftover beans, those beans will come to great use for this recipe. Wrapped over red bean paste and mixed with a dash of green tea matcha powder, this mochi recipe is super easy and fun to make. Paired with a hot cup of tea is simple perfection.

The mochi consistency is super sticky, so make sure to not only cover your work surface with cornstarch, but also your hands with cornstarch to roll more easily. Most important part to remember, make sure to use glutinous rice flour or Mochiko, or otherwise your mochi won’t have the needed sticky texture. Have fun!

Gooey Sticky Fun: Japanese Mochi

2014-09-24 01:39:37

Serves 8

Mochi that's not only delicious to eat but fun to make

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Total Time

3 hr 35 min

Total Time

3 hr 35 min

Ingredients

1 cup of sweetened red bean paste
1 cup of sweet rice flour (Mochiko)
1 teaspoon of green tea powder (Matcha)
1 cup of water
¼ cup of white sugar
½ cup of cornstarch to roll out the dough

Instructions

First, wrap the red bean paste in aluminum foil, then place it into the freezer for at least 3 hours.
In a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl, thoroughly mix together the sweet rice flour and green tea powder. Following that, stir in water and sugar, and mix until the mixture is smooth, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
Afterwards, cook the rice flour mixture in the microwave for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Meanwhile, take the red bean paste from the freezer and separate the paste into 8 equal balls and set aside. Stir the rice flour mixture then heat in the microwave for another 15 to 30 seconds.
Pick a good countertop space to roll your mochi, and dust the surface with cornstarch.
While the mochi is still hot from the microwave, begin rolling them into balls, the size of around 2 tablespoons.
Flatten the mochi ball and place 1 frozen red bean paste ball into the center of it. Pinch the mochi all over the red bean paste until the paste is completely covered by the mochi. Sprinkle with additional cornstarch, then place the mochi in a paper muffin liner, seam side down, to prevent sticking. Repeat the rolling until you have used up all the mochi and red bean paste.

By Wenna Pang

Adapted from allrecipes.com

So Good Blog http://www.sogoodblog.com/

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Wenna Pang

A writer and photographer who's in love with new experiences, visual art, and the written word. Born and raised in Chicago, I've also spent time living in New York City, Hong Kong, and traveled throughout various places. A travel enthusiast by heart, I love roaming new places and exploring the people & food that comes with it. As an avid story teller, I love sharing my discoveries, whether it be my latest travel experience or newest food adventure. I truly believe that food is the universal factor that connects all of us, no matter how different we may be in other ways, we cannot deny that there’s at least one thing that we love to eat and that one favorite food magically and unconditionally gives us comfort and pleasure. That feeling is one of the purest forms of happiness and I’d love to share that feeling through my work