Mochi is a dessert you see often in anime. I have only had it a handful of times, and those times were all in the form of mochi ice cream. In Japan mochi comes in many different forms. The base is rice, and the mochi can be savory or sweet. Mochi ice cream has an outer shell of mochi with ice cream wrapped inside. I chose to try three different flavors:, strawberry, macha, and red bean paste, but there are many different possibilities when it comes to filling the mochi.
When I think of where mochi is most well represented in anime I think of the show Tamako Market. It is about a high school girl who lives in Kyoto with her family. They have a mochi shop that has been passed down through the generations, and she intends to carry on the family shop after she graduates high school by working there with her father and grandfather.
The show is a slice of life comedy, and it’s a lot of fun to watch. The plot starts when a bird named Dera (who can talk) accidentally ends up in their shop. He is on a journey far away from his home and ends up staying with Tamako and her family, experiencing their daily life in the shopping plaza and beyond.
Throughout the show you see mochi made often, and get a little insight into how it can be eaten. There’s even a scene where they pound mochi with a wooden mallet. It definitely makes you want to try it!
Mochi Ice Cream
With Three Flavor Options
Recipe adapted from Just One Cookbook
Ingredients
3/4 C. Mochi Flour (sweet rice flour)
3/4 C. Water
1/4 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Cornstarch
1 pint of non-dairy Vanilla ice cream of your choice (I used Chloe Coscarelli’s vanilla ice cream base)
Matcha powder (not green tea leaves, but ground matcha powder)
Strawberry jam
Red bean paste (see my Taiyaki recipe if you want to make it yourself)
Steps
Separate the ice cream of your choice into three containers.
2. Mix a tablespoon (or more depending on your taste preference) of matcha powder, strawberry jam, and red bean paste, one in each container.
Freeze the ice cream until it is hard. If you leave it out it will melt as you are forming the mochi and will make a mess and won’t allow the mochi to seal shut. I made this mistake the first time I tried forming the mochi ice cream balls, and trust me when I say that first batch did not look appetizing!
3. Combine the mochi flour and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until combined.
Add the water and mix until combined, no lumps. It will look a bit like pancake batter.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for a minute. Stir it with a rubber spatula, cover again with the plastic, and microwave for another minute. Repeat this process until the mochi looks as shown above. (If you don’t have a microwave you can do this in a steamer on the stove. Follow the link above the recipe to Just One Cookbook for that method).
5. Cover your work surface with parchment paper or plastic wrap and dust with the cornstarch. This will help the mochi not stick. As it is now the mochi is very sticky.
6. Transfer the mochi to the work surface and dust with cornstarch. Use a rolling pin to roll it out.
7. Use a small cup to cut out circles in the mochi flour. Set aside the circles on a plate that has plastic wrap on it with more cornstarch laid down to prevent sticking. You can fold over the plastic on top of the mochi as you make more circles with the dough.
Roll the remainder of the dough back up into a ball, and after sprinkling with more cornstarch roll it out again to complete step 7 until you have used all the dough and have as many circles as you can make with the dough.
8. Take one flavor of ice cream out of the freezer. With a teaspoon take a small dollop and place it in the center of one of the rounds of mochi. Take the sides and wrap up like a dumpling, making sure that the sides all meet on the top. Place on a plate or in a container of your choosing and continue this process with the rest of the ice cream. I recommend keeping them in the freezer as you are making them because the ice cream will melt as you are working, and you don’t want it to ooze out of the sides of the mochi.
You will likely have leftover ice cream. You can either make more of the mochi dough or just eat the ice cream by itself. Either option is tasty. :)
My favorite flavor was the strawberry, but I like the other two as well. They are just a more subtly sweet flavor that could be enjoyed with some iced green tea on a hot day.
I hope you try this recipe out for your self, and if you’re into sweet and funny shows I would recommend checking out Tamako Market and the sequel Tamako Love Story. You can watch both on Hidive. You can buy them online as well if you would like to have them in your collection. If you try either out let me know what you think!
