Make fresh homemade mochi using a stand mixer! Enjoy the rice cakes with your favorite fillings like red bean paste or matcha ice cream, or dip in a savory or sweet coating, or in soups.
Servings: 16 small mochi balls
Ingredients
- ▢ 3 rice cooker cups sweet rice/glutinous rice (mochigome) (540 ml, 450 g)
- ▢ 400 ml water (it should reach the water level line on the inner pan for 3 rice cooker cups of Sweet Rice)
- ▢ potato starch or cornstarch (for dusting)
For the Anko Mochi
- ▢ red bean paste (anko) (you can make my homemade Anko recipe or Pressure Cooker Anko recipe)
For the Kinako Mochi
- ▢ 2 Tbsp kinako (roasted soybean flour) (this is enough for 2 mochi balls. If you’re making more, follow the ratio of 2 parts kinako to 1 part sugar)
- ▢ 1 Tbsp sugar
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
Instructions
Before You Start…
- This recipe was created using a KitchenAid stand mixer (professional series). Please do not use a hand mixer to make this recipe as the motor is not powerful enough to handle mochi. I cannot guarantee that other equipment will work as I have not tested it. You can always pound the cooked glutinous rice with a wooden mallet.
To Measure and Rinse the Glutinous Rice
- Measure the glutinous rice. One rice cooker cup (180 ml) of glutinous rice is 150 grams. You will need 3 rice cooker cups (540 ml, 450 grams).
- To rinse the glutinous rice, put the rice in a large bowl and add some water. Stir with your hands and quickly drain the water.
- Then gently stir the rice with your fingertips.Glutinous rice breaks easily, so you should not apply any extra pressure. Just lightly stir a few times.
- Add water to the bowl, and carefully rinse 4-5 times. Drain the rice in a fine-mesh sieve/colander.
- Shake the sieve/colander to remove the excess water. Then transfer the rice into the inner pot of the rice cooker.
- Even the level of the rice in the pot and add 400 ml of water. The water should be at the 3-cup line for Sweet Rice. Evenly distribute the rice with chopsticks or your fingers.
To Cook the Glutinous Rice
- Close the lid of the rice cooker. Select Regular on the menu and start cooking. Regular mode cooking is usually 5-10 minutes longer than the Sweet Rice setting. When the rice is finished cooking, we can take it out immediately.
- When the rice is almost done, prepare about 4-5 cups of boiling water. Once the hot water is ready, pour one-third of the boiled water into your stand mixer bowl to warm it up, one-third into a mixing bowl to warm a dough hook and a flat beater, and the rest into a 2-cup measuring cup to keep a silicone spatula wet. Make sure there is enough hot water to submerge all the tools.
- Discard the hot water in the stand mixer. Transfer all the cooked glutinous rice into the stand mixer.
To Knead with the Dough Hook Attachment
- Set the dough hook attachment in your stand mixer. Start kneading the glutinous rice on Speed 2. Set timer for 3 minutes (first round).
- The dough hook will start pulling in the rice.
- (Optional) While kneading, you can use your wet silicone spatula to detach the glutinous rice from the wall of the stand mixer bowl.
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When the 3-minute timer beeps [03:00], remove the bowl from the stand mixer, keeping the dough hook attached. Using the wet silicone spatula, flip the glutinous rice. Dip the spatula in the water a few times so it doesn’t stick to the rice.
- Put the bowl back onto the stand mixer and start kneading again on Speed 2. Reset the timer for 3 minutes (second round).
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When the 3-minute timer beeps [06:00], remove the bowl from the stand mixer and flip the glutinous rice again, using the wet silicone spatula. Now the rice grains are less visible and are starting to look like mochi.
- Put the bowl back onto the stand mixer and start kneading again on Speed 2. Reset the timer for 3 minutes (third round).
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When the 3-minute timer beeps [09:00], remove the bowl from the stand mixer and flip the glutinous rice again, using the wet silicone spatula. Now it’s getting stickier and elastic.
- Put the bowl back onto the stand mixer and start kneading again on Speed 2. Reset the timer for 3 minutes (fourth round).
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When the 3-minute timer beeps [12:00], remove the bowl from the stand mixer and flip the glutinous rice again, using the wet silicone spatula. Now the kneading is complete.
To “Pound” with a Flat Beater Attachment
- Remove the dough hook attachment from the stand mixer and change to a flat beater attachment.
- Beat the mochi on Speed 3. Set the timer for 30 seconds (first round).
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When the 30-second timer beeps [00:30], do not remove the bowl from the stand mixer. Scrape the mochi as much as you can from the sides of the bowl, using the wet silicone spatula.
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Reset the timer for 30 seconds (second round). Start beating again on Speed 3. When the 30-second timer beeps [01:00], scrape the mochi again from the sides of the bowl, using the wet silicone spatula.
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Reset the timer for 30 seconds (third round). Start beating again on Speed 3. When the 30-second timer beeps [01:30], scrape the mochi again from the sides of the bowl, using the wet silicone spatula.
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Reset the timer for 30 seconds (fourth round). Start beating again on Speed 3. When the 30-second timer beeps [02:00], scrape the mochi again from the sides of the bowl, using the wet silicone spatula. Now the pounding is done.
To Shape into the Mochi Cakes
- Prepare two rimmed baking sheets by covering them with potato starch. Put all the pounded mochi on one of the baking sheets. The other one is for keeping the mochi cakes.
- Sprinkle some potato starch on top of the freshly pounded mochi. Make sure your hands are completely dry and dust them with potato starch. Keep extra starch handy so you can always dust your hands when needed.
- Spread the potato starch on top of the mochi, making sure there is no sticky part exposed. Pick up a corner of the mochi and start tucking in the edges underneath.
- Once you’ve mounded up a thick layer of mochi, make a C shape with your left index finger and thumb against the edge of the mochi.
- Use your right hand to tuck in and push up the mochi underneath to create a ball shape above your left C shaped fingers.
- Pinch and twist: Using your C-shaped fingers, pinch underneath the ball to cut off the mochi. Use your right hand to twist off the mochi. Do not pull the mochi as it creates a sticky surface.
- This photo is a bad example. You don’t want to pull the mochi. The sticky mochi surface appears and now your hands get sticky when you touch it. REMEMBER: Pinch and twist. Pinch and twist.
- As you form the mochi cakes, place them on the other rimmed baking sheet. When you’re ready to eat them, dust off the starch with a pastry brush or with your dry hands. Enjoy your mochi in Japanese New Year Soup (Ozoni) and Red Bean Soup, or make Anko Mochi or Kinako Mochi (see below).
To Store
- If you do not use the mochi cakes immediately, cover each one individually in plastic wrap and put in a freezer bag. Store in the freezer for 3 months.
(Optional) To Make the Anko Mochi
- Flatten the mochi cake by pressing down with the palm of your hand.
- Brush off the excess starch with your hands or a pastry brush. It’s important to remove the starch, so don’t skip this step.
- Put the anko (sweet red bean paste) in the center of each mochi. Pull two opposite sides of the mochi out and away from the center.
- Pull up the sides and pinch the ends over the anko. Repeat for the other sides and pinch the ends together on top.
- Lightly dust your hands with potato starch (do not overcoat). Use light pressure to pinch and seal the top of the mochi.
(Optional) To Make the Kinako Mochi
- In a bowl, combine kinako (roasted soybean flour) and sugar (ratio: 2 parts kinako to 1 part sugar) and mix well
- Pour hot water in a separate bowl. Dip a mochi cake in the hot water.
- Coat well with the kinako mixture and repeat with the rest. Serve immediately.
From: Just One Cookbook