mochi (n) a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous flour pounded into a paste and molded into shape (source: Wikipedia)
I’ve always had a weakness for the chewy texture of rice cakes. It doesn’t really matter what form these rice cakes take. I’m just as happy chewing on savory stir-fried Chinese rice cakes (chao nian gao) as I am snacking on sweet Japanese mochi.
The traditional method for making mochi is time-consuming and labor intensive. First glutinous (or sweet) rice is manually ground, soaked, and then steamed. This mound of cooked rice is then pounded vigorously for 10 minutes until it becomes one big, sticky mass. Finally, this mass is hand-kneaded until it becomes the desired texture.
It’s no wonder virtually no one in America makes mochi at home.
Thankfully, with the help of modern technology, there are much easier ways of making mochi at home. I’ve chosen to even skip the pounding step. Although it yields a mochi that is less dense, it’s still sweet, chewy, and quite enjoyable.
Hard to beat for just 15 minutes of work. 🙂
Easy Homemade Mochi
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Mochiko (glutinous rice) flour
1-2 T sugar (optional)
Mix together water, flour, and sugar in a microwave safe bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for about 2 minutes. The previously liquid mixture should be solid now. Typically the plastic wrap will expand while heating (creating a bubble on top of the container) and then it will shrink and become concave once you take it out (due to the rapid cooling air inside the container).
Remove from microwave and let cool.
Be careful when removing the plastic wrap! The steam is very hot!
I like to use a glass Pyrex container with plastic wrap for microwaving because I know it will retain the moisture inside. I once tried making it with a plastic lid and I think too much moisture was lost, resulting in a hard, rubbery mochi. Of course, I’m sure some of you (me included!) feel a little nervous about microwaving with plastic wrap. If you have a microwave-safe lid that seals, I would definitely try that. At the end of the day, you just need to make sure no moisture escapes!
You can now scoop out your desired size and cover with potato starch, peanut sugar, kinako (roasted soy bean flour), coconut flakes, or cocoa powder.
Alternatively, take out the entire piece and cut up into squares with a knife.
That’s it!
You can easily make peanut sugar with a mini-food processor. Just put plain, dry-roasted peanuts and sugar in a food processor and pulse until it becomes a powder. I never actually measure, but I try to eye ball a ratio roughly 1:1 by volume.
Alternatively, you can grind peanuts and sugar in a mortar and pestle by hand, the way my mom used to do it when we were growing up!
If you are ambitious, you can try making mochi sushi!
Check out my posts on how to make mochi nigiri and mochi maki rolls. These are super cute, and not too hard to make! They work great for parties. 🙂
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yum. must try.
I just made some too, not long ago! 🙂 So easy to make, and super delicious!
I actually made mochi from scratch with my grandma recently.
We used a machine, so it was still super-easy.
Check out my post on it!
http://minyungee.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/making-mochi-with-grandma/
I love the mochi sushi! So creative =)
Oh I am so excited to try to make mochi. However, do you have an alternative if I don’t have a microwave? Perhaps a double boiler could work? As always, I adore your beautiful photos and creativity.
Suzanne, you totally don’t need a microwave to make mochi! The traditional way is to steam it, so some sort of double boiler just might work!
Jen
Love the sushi mochi. We make mochi in the microwave and oven all the time. In Hawaii, some families still pound it the old fashion way for New Years.
I like to roll it flat over cornstarch (incredibly messy, but I’m working on it) and then put a ball of ice cream inside. Wrap the flat mochi around, pop back in the freezer for a few hours, and you have ice cream mochi! I had a mochi party with different extracts to flavor the mochi then pop in the microwave.
Love this!
O MY GOD this is so easy to make and after i finish making it i put flour on it so it won’t be sticky
i really wanted to make mochi for my grandfather while he was visiting because he taught me how to make mochi in the first place but then i forgot how to make it! but this is so far the best recipe yet! and as you can see my username or whatever it is you can be sure that i love mochi! and i LOVE chao nian gao!
the microwave completely dries it out. i’ve accounted for variables such as microwave differences by adjusting the time cooked, as well as various types of coverings while in the microwave, but the moisture continues to escape, creating a dried, rubbery, unusable textured result.
have you seen this in your trials?
Hi! My mochi turned “hard” fairly fast. I also tried another recipe where I steamed the mochi and slowly heated the sugar in a pot. That turned “hard” as well. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can prevent this? I figured it was from the sugar hardening as it cools down.
Does it help if you cook it for a shorter amount of time? I wonder if your microwave is a different strength? Sorry, I’m not sure!
Hello! I just did a test-run of the recipe, and it turned out great! I’m so glad it worked. I will be making more batches to pass out at today’s Anime Club at the library, where I work. I hope the kids like it as much as I do :). Thanks for a quick and easy mochi recipe.