Japan · Dessert · Hard
Mochi
Rome's most famous pasta. Silky egg and Pecorino sauce clinging to every strand, studded with crisp guanciale. No cream, ever.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Mochi, in 5 ideas
- Mochiko, not regular rice flour. Sweet glutinous rice flour is the only flour that works. Regular rice flour makes sad dense lumps.
- Wet the spatula. A water-dipped spatula releases the hot dough cleanly. A dry one becomes permanently attached.
- Fill or skip. Plain mochi dusted with kinako (roasted soybean flour) is traditional. Ice cream scoops inside make mochi ice cream.
- Same day only. Mochi hardens as it sits. If you must store it, wrap airtight and microwave 10 seconds to soften.
- Small pieces, chew well. Mochi is famously chewy. Take small bites, especially for kids and grandparents.
What you need
Ingredients
- 1 cup mochiko sweet rice flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup cornstarch, for dusting
- 12 tsp sweet red bean paste (anko)
- Pinch of salt
How to make it
Directions
- Whisk the mochiko, sugar, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir in the water until completely smooth with no lumps.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Microwave 2 minutes, stir well with a wet spatula, then microwave 1 minute more. The dough should be translucent, sticky, and elastic.
- Alternatively, steam: pour into a heatproof dish, cover, and steam 15 minutes, stirring halfway, until translucent.
- Dust a work surface generously with cornstarch. Scrape the hot dough onto it. Dust your hands too. This stuff sticks to everything.
- Pat the dough into a rough rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 12 squares.
- Flatten each square, place a teaspoon of red bean paste in the center, and pinch the edges together to seal. Roll gently into a ball.
- Dust off excess cornstarch and serve. Best eaten the same day.
Cornstarch is your lifeline. Mochi dough bonds to skin, counters, and tools on contact. Dust everything, including your hands, before you touch it. Twice as much as you think you need.