How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (2024)

  • Japanese

By

Chichi Wang

How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (1)

Chichi Wang

Chichi Wang wrote a variety of columns for Serious Eats including The Butcher's Cuts, in addition to other stories. Born in Shanghai and raised in New Mexico, Chichi took her degree in philosophy but decided that writing about food would be more fun than writing about Plato.

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Updated May 15, 2019

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How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (2)

This Sunday marks the Lunar New Year for the Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean cultures. While no single dish can represent the diverse practices of each cuisine, rice is a common thread, a symbol of wealth and plenty. This year, I'm making mochi, which is always fashioned from glutinous sweet rice. The grains of rice develop an especially sticky surface when cooked. So sweet and dense, the kernels taste appropriately gluttonous on special occasions.

"Making mochi at home is a completely manageable, albeit sticky, activity."

In Japan and Korea, the rounds of glutinous rice, known as mochi and tteok, respectively, are indulgently gooey affairs. The cakes, which can either be sweet or savory, are steamed, pounded, or pan-fried.

Store-bought versions are usually coated with too much starch and can taste like chemicals or waxy fillings. The homemade version, however, is one of my favorite treats: soft and chewy with the sweetness of glutinous rice coming through, freshly pounded mochi is not to be missed. And, despite its opaque appearance, making mochi at home is a completely manageable, albeit sticky, activity. The steps and recipe ideas, after the jump.

Ingredients

  • Glutinous sweet rice
  • Potato or rice starch

Directions

  1. In a food processor or spice grinder, coarsely process the glutinous sweet rice. Soak the rice in a large bowl of water for an hour, then arrange the drained rice on a steamer insert fitted with muslin or cheese cloth.

    How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (3)

  2. Steam the rice for 40 to 45 minutes, until the broken grains of rice are translucent. Let rest in the steamer insert for 5 minutes.

    How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (4)

  3. With wet fingers, transfer the cooked rice to a mortar and pestle.

    Depending on the size of the bowl, you may need to complete this step in batches. Pound the rice in an up-and-down fashion for 10 minutes or so.

    As you continue to pound the rice, have a bowl of warm water ready to add to the bowl if needed. The rice should be somewhat moist, but not wet, as you pound it. By the end of the pounding process, the rice will be one cohesive, sticky mass.

    How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (5)

  4. Sprinkle potato or rice starch over your work surface. Wet your hands again and transfer the mochi to the surface. Now make sure your hands are completely dry and cleaned of residual sticky rice. Lightly knead the mochi, adding more potato starch as needed, until the mass of rice is no longer extremely sticky to the touch. Divide the mochi into 2-inch balls, rolling each around in a thin layer of starch.

    If you want to fill the mochi, use red bean paste or another filling of your choice. (I like mixing the highest-quality peanut butter and honey.) Flatten the ball of mochi and place a teaspoonful of filling in the center. Gather the ends of the circle together and roll again to form a ball with the enclosed filling. Eat as is, or proceed with toasting. In this form, the mochi can be kept underneath a wet towel for 10 to 12 hours. If you intend to the toast the mochi later, the rounds of rice can be stored for 24 hours.

    How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (6)

  5. Heat a heavy skillet or pan. Place each round of mochi onto the pan. You may either leave the mochi in its spherical form or use a spatula to flatten the mochi. Toast the bottoms of the mochi until they are golden brown, taking care not to move or disturb the balls as they cook. If the mochi is prematurely moved, the surface will not have time to harden and the balls will stick to the pan. Continue to toast the mochi on all sides.

    How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (7)

  6. Eat the plain toasted rounds of mochi dipped in soy sauce or sugar. Or, place the balls of mochi in soup for a New Year's dumpling soup, where they will absorb the flavors of the broth. Eat the soup immediately upon serving to fully experience the delicate balance of the crisp, charred surface to the gooey, soft interior. The filled and toasted rounds of mochi may be eaten as they are.

    How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (8)

Special equipment

food processor or spice grinder, mortar and pestle

How to Make Mochi by Hand Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can I make mochi with regular flour? ›

Ingredients in Mochi:

Glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour- I used Mochiko but you can also use shiratamako). Regular flour will not work for this recipe!

How to make mochi the traditional way? ›

So, how do you make mochi? Traditionally, mochi is made by pounding steamed short-grain Japanese sticky rice, called mochigome, with a wooden mallet during a ceremony called mochitsuki. This aerates and pulverizes the rice, which is what gives mochi its beloved texture.

What kind of rice is used for mochi? ›

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome (糯米), a short-grain glutinous rice*. It's naturally white, sticky, elastic, and chewy.

How long to soak rice for mochi? ›

Well, whether you're making a delicious Japanese dessert, or celebrating the first day of the new year, we've got a time-saving secret weapon when it comes to making mochi at home! Soak rice in water for 6-12 hours to make the rice bright and glutinous.

What is a substitute for mochi flour? ›

Tapioca flour is ideal if you're looking for a sweet rice flour substitute for baked goods. It can help create foods that require a chewy consistency, like cookies and brownies. Tapioca flour works in a 1:1 ratio as a substitute. You can also use it to make mochi at home.

What is a substitute for glutinous rice flour in mochi? ›

Mochiko flour, shiratamako flour and chaphsal flour are pretty much the only glutinous rice flour substitutes on this list that can create the same chewy and bouncy texture in foods as sweet rice flour and are thus the best substitutes.

What is mochi dough made of? ›

Mochi is a bun-shaped Japanese dessert made from sweet glutinous rice flour, or mochigome. It has a soft, chewy texture that is somewhat elastic. Mochi is often flavored with matcha (or green tea powder), which gives it a light green hue.

What makes mochi chewy? ›

Amylopectin is is much more hygroscopic than amylose, which for people who didn't major in chemistry means that Amylopectin absorbs more water. Mochi in its simplest form is just a chewy elastic dough made from fully hydrated Amylopectin.

How long can homemade mochi last? ›

Fresh homemade mochi typically must be eaten within a day. Fresh mochi from the store has a longer shelf-life if refrigerated and can last up to a week. Mochi ice cream can be kept in the fridge for a few months, usually until the best-by date.

Are mochi healthy? ›

When you combine rice and seaweed, mochi is low in saturated fat and very low in cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamins A, C, E (Alpha Tocopherol), and K, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, and Phosphorus. It's also a very good source of Riboflavin, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Copper, and Manganese.

Is mochi just smashed rice? ›

Mochi is made from glutinous, short-grain rice, and to achieve its iconic texture, the rice is steamed and repeatedly smashed with traditional hammers or with the help of modern machinery. The pounding motion adds air bubbles to the dough, which creates its unique texture.

Can I make mochi with a blender? ›

(Day of) After rice is soaked, pour water and rice and sugar into blender, blend on high until smooth. Oil your microwave/steamer safe bowl. Pour mochi batter into it. Microwave: Cover mochi bowl with plastic wrap and cook on High for 4 minutes.

Can you use normal rice flour for mochi? ›

No. It has to be glutinous rice flour also sometimes called “sweet rice”. It has a sort of stretchy type of starch in it that normal rice varieties don't have. It's that stretchiness that makes mochi.

How long should mochi sit before eating? ›

Grab your favorite flavor out of the freezer, wait 1-2 minutes so your My/Mochi can reach its Joyfully Chill potential. Once your My/Mochi is the 'right' level of softness for you, time to snack!

How do you cook rice for mochi? ›

For the mochi dough base: Wash the rice gently until the water runs clear, 5 to 8 times, then drain. Cook the rice with 2 1/2 cups water in a rice cooker according to the manufacturer directions for sushi/sweet rice, about 30 minutes.

Can I use all-purpose flour instead of glutinous flour? ›

All-purpose flour – use it the same way as rice flour in cooking and baking, but don't use it if gluten isn't an option. Before using flour as a thickening agent, make sure it has been cooked with some fat and cook it longer in soups or sauces to avoid getting an unpleasant taste and grainy texture.

Can you substitute flour for glutinous rice flour? ›

If you don't have either of the two, there are several alternatives you can use. For baking and frying, use cornstarch, potato starch, or tapioca starch. All-purpose flour and wheat flour also work as cooking and baking substitutes, but these are not gluten-free.

What can I use instead of rice flour? ›

10 Best Rice Flour Substitutes
  • Almond Flour. Almond flour is a popular gluten-free flour that can be used as a 1:1 substitute for rice flour. ...
  • Coconut Flour. ...
  • Cornstarch. ...
  • Potato Flour. ...
  • Buckwheat Flour. ...
  • Tapioca Flour. ...
  • Chickpea Flour. ...
  • Sorghum Flour.
Feb 27, 2023

Is mochi flour just rice flour? ›

Mochi flour is indeed rice flour. But it's milled from a special type of rice called glutinous rice. This short-grain rice is so high in starch that it turns incredibly sticky when cooked!

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