This Mochi Recipe is a sweet and chewy Japanese dessert! Made with homemade custard wrapped in glutinous rice cake, it is a treat you won't be able to resist. While it's traditionally eaten around the Japanese New Year, the sweet treat can be enjoyed at any time of the year with many different fillings.
🔍 Quick Look: Mochi Recipe
- 🕒 Ready In: 1 hour 45 minutes
- 🍴 Servings: 8
- 🔥 Calories: ~169 per serving
- ⭐ Main Ingredients: Sweet rice flour, egg yolks, milk, vanilla, and cornstarch
- 📖 Dietary Info: Vegetarian
- 👩🍳 Method: Stovetop, microwave
- ⭐ Difficulty: Intermediate
I first tried fresh mochi on my trip to Japan, and it completely ruined store-bought mochi ice cream for me! The two don't even compare. The texture of fresh mochi is softer, chewier, and so much more delicate. I became obsessed with finding the best mochi everywhere we went, and the custard-filled daifuku was my absolute favorite.
When I got home, I knew I had to figure out how to make it myself. It took me a few batches to get the shaping right (the dough is sooo sticky!), but once I figured out the cornstarch trick, it made the process much easier. Follow my easy steps to make this super addictive dessert.
That trip also inspired my Fluffy Japanese Pancakes and Steamed Japanese Pork Buns recipes. Japan has the best food!
This was super easy to make and the taste was so authentic! A very different dessert (which is what I was looking for), we loved this recipe!
-Amanda
Jump to:
🍴 What is mochi?
Mochi is a sweet and sticky Japanese confection made with glutinous rice cake that's stuffed with a sweet filling. It's absolutely irresistible.
❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Surprisingly Easy - The mochi wrapper is made in the microwave in just 4 minutes. No special equipment or experience needed!
- Unique and Impressive - Bring these to any party or gathering and watch them become the star of the show. Most people have never had fresh homemade mochi before, and they absolutely love it.
- Fun to Customize - Once you master the basic technique, you can fill mochi with almost anything: red bean paste, strawberries, ice cream, Nutella, or even cookie dough.
🛒 Key Ingredients
- Sweet Rice Flour (mochiko) (affiliate link): This is the one ingredient you absolutely cannot substitute when it comes to mochi. Sweet rice flour gives mochi its signature chewy, stretchy texture. You can find it in the Asian food aisle at most grocery stores.
- Egg yolks: Gives the custard filling its rich, creamy texture and beautiful golden color.
- Milk: The base of the custard. Whole milk gives it the best flavor and creaminess.
- Vanilla extract: A little vanilla rounds out the custard and makes it taste bakery-worthy. Don't skip it!
- Potato starch or cornstarch: Your best friend when working with mochi. You'll dust this on everything: your hands, the cutting board, the dough. It helps to keep the sticky mochi from becoming an unworkable mess. I always have extra nearby, you'll go through more than you think!
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🔄 Substitutions & Variations
- Custard Filling: The beauty of mochi is that you can fill it with almost anything! Try red bean paste (anko) for a traditional Japanese version, fresh strawberries for ichigo daifuku, Nutella for a chocolate twist, or peanut butter for a unique take on it.
- Make it gluten-free: The mochi wrapper is already gluten-free. To make the whole recipe gluten-free, swap the all-purpose flour in the custard with cornstarch (same amount).
- Make it dairy-free: Substitute the milk in the custard with coconut milk or oat milk. Coconut milk adds a nice, subtle tropical flavor that pairs really well with the mochi.
- Food coloring: The yellow food coloring is optional and purely for looks. Skip it if you prefer a more natural look.
- Ice cream filling: Skip the custard entirely and wrap the mochi around small scoops of frozen ice cream for ice cream mochi. Just make sure you work fast since the ice cream melts quickly!
🥣 How to Make This Mochi Recipe
Custard
Step 1: Add the milk to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat to boiling. Slowly whisk in the flour, egg yolks, sugar, and salt.
Step 2: Heat on low heat until bubbling and thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.
Step 3: Pour the custard through a mesh sieve to remove any clumps. Let the custard cool.
Step 4: Scoop custard into a frosting bag and pipe onto a cookie sheet into 8 dollops. Freeze for one hour.
Mochi
Step 5: Add sweet rice flour, sugar, salt, water, and a few drops of food coloring to a microwave-safe bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap.
Microwave for 1 minute, remove plastic, then stir. It will not be smooth after stirring it.
Step 6: Replace the plastic wrap and continue microwaving for 1-minute intervals until mochi has a translucent quality and feels gummy. This usually takes 3-4 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, enough to handle with your hands.
Step 7: Place the mochi on a cutting board, generously coated in potato starch.
Step 8: Sprinkle potato starch on top of the ball of mochi. Shape the mochi into a half-inch thick disk.
Step 9: Using a knife or bench cutter, divide the mochi into eight pieces.
Step 10: Coat your hands with potato starch and roll each piece of mochi into a ball. Using your hands, flatten each ball into a disk.
Step 11: Grab a mochi disk and place a ball of frozen custard in the middle.
Step 12: Fold over the opposite sides of the mochi disk over the custard ball.
Step 13: Pinch the other two remaining sides of the disk over the custard ball.
Step 14: Continue pinching the sides of the mochi gently until the custard is completely wrapped. Enjoy!
💭 FAQs
Before you add any flavorings, mochi just tastes like rice (after all, it's made from rice flour.) But mochi has a very unique sticky, stretchy, soft, and chewy texture.
Mochi has a subtle taste on its own, which makes it a very versatile food that can be made with a variety of flavorings.
There are a variety of fillings you can put in mochi, including red bean paste (anko), white bean paste (shiroan), ice cream, custard, strawberries, and even cookie dough. Get creative with it. The options are truly endless!
Rice flour is made from medium or long-grain rice, but sweet rice flour is made from glutinous short-grain rice.
It may be tempting to want to substitute regular rice flour, but the recipe will not yield the same results if you do not use sweet rice flour. Rice flour has a very different texture and flavor, and it will not hold together the same way.
Mochi is a rice cake made with glutinous rice. Mochi is not naturally sweet and has a very neutral flavor. Daifuku is literally filled mochi.
⛩️ More Japanese-Inspired recipes
- Fluffy Japanese Pancakes
- Japanese Milk Bread
- Steamed Japanese Pork Buns (Nikuman)
- Pork Tonkatsu
- Easy Homemade Ramen
If you make this recipe, let me know what you think! I'd love it if you could add a star rating ★ and a comment below. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, too!
📋 Recipe
Mochi Recipe
Ingredients
Custard
- 1 cup milk
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Mochi
- 1 cup Mochiko sweet rice flour (affiliate link)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup water
- yellow food coloring
- potato starch or cornstarch
Instructions
- Add the milk to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat to boiling. Slowly whisk in the flour, egg yolks, sugar, and salt.1 cup milk, 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, 4 egg yolks, 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon salt
- Heat on low heat until bubbling and thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour the custard through a mesh sieve to remove any clumps. Let the custard cool.
- Scoop custard into a frosting bag and pipe onto a cookie sheet into 8 dollops. Freeze for one hour.
- Add sweet rice flour, sugar, salt, water, and a few drops of food coloring to a microwave-safe bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap.1 cup Mochiko sweet rice flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¾ cup water, yellow food coloring
- Microwave for 1 minute, remove plastic, then stir. It will not be smooth after stirring it.
- Replace the plastic wrap and continue microwaving for 1-minute intervals until mochi has a translucent quality and feels gummy. This usually takes 3-4 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, enough to handle with your hands.
- Place the mochi on a cutting board, generously coated in potato starch.potato starch or cornstarch
- Sprinkle potato starch on top of the ball of mochi. Shape the mochi into a half-inch thick disk.
- Using a knife or bench cutter, divide the mochi into eight pieces.
- Coat your hands with potato starch and roll each piece of mochi into a ball. Using your hands, flatten each ball into a disk.
- Grab a mochi disk and place a ball of frozen custard in the middle.
- Fold over the opposite sides of the mochi disk over the custard ball.
- Pinch the other two remaining sides of the disk over the custard ball.
- Continue pinching the sides of the mochi gently until the custard is completely wrapped. Enjoy!
Ashley Amundsen says
This is one of my most popular recipes for a reason! The combination of chewy mochi and creamy custard filling is absolutely addicting. I can never eat just one!
Shirley says
This recipe was perfect, literally perfect. The sweetness was not too sweet, just on point, and as an asian, I really appreciated that. I didn't use the food coloring but i doubt that would've made it anymore perfect. I will say that I would've liked a thicker mochi layer and I think I'm going to make a slightly larger quantity of mochi than the custard that way I get the ratio that I want, but I have to thank you greatly for this, it was a keeper for sure. <3
Ashley says
Thank you for your comment Shirley! I am so glad to hear you liked the recipe!
Jenny says
Our family is always on the look out for new dessert recipes. It’s my husband’s influence (grin). This Mochi stands out. We love it!
Laura says
Yummy! Made this recipe with my toddler and it was fun! Plus the result was so delicious, thank you!
Marie Asselin says
I've been in love with mochi ever since I tasted them in Japan! I bought a box of Mochiko flour a while back but I felt intimidated to make them from scratch. Your recipe and tips made the process seamless! I can't wait to make them again with different fillings.
Kristina says
This was delicious filled with cookie dough ice cream. It was surprisingly easy to make and I am glad I gave it a try. Would recommend!
Ashley says
Ooh that sounds amazing with cookie dough ice cream!
Amanda Mason says
This was super easy to make and the taste was so authentic! A very different dessert (which is what I was looking for), we loved this recipe!
Ashley says
I'm so glad you liked it! It's always fun to try something different!
Amanda says
I love mochi but had never made them before. They turned out so good! You really explained the process well too, so it was super simple.
Ashley says
It's surprising how easy it is to make! I'm so glad you liked it!
Kate says
What a great dessert!! I am glad I stepped out of my boundaries and tried something new.
Debra says
What a decadent treat! I was surprised how easy these were to make....and super tasty too.
Ashley says
I'm so glad you liked them! 🙂
Connie says
Yes! Love mochis. I would sometimes buy them at Trader Joes but I love making things from scratch. Glad to have bumped into this recipe. I can't wait to make this from home!
Ashley says
I love Trader Joe's mochi, but homemade is so good! And it's surprisingly easy to make!
Laura Arteaga says
I've tried Mochi many times but never even though of making them myself! This recipe explains every step and it looks quite easy so we will definitely be trying it soon! Thank you so much 🙂
Ashley says
You'll have to let me know how it turns out for you! 🙂
Chandice Probst says
Oh my goodness we love traditional mochi with ice cream but this is even better! I love custard so this is perfect thank you!
Ashley says
I love mochi with ice cream too! The custard filling is so yummy!
Amanda says
This was my first time making mochi, and it came out so good! That custard is so decadent, and I was surprised how simple it was. It was a fun process -- definitely worth trying!
Ashley says
I'm so glad it turned out good for you! Isn't it amazing how easy it is to make?!
Marisa F. Stewart says
We love trying new foods and cuisines and Hubby was stationed in Japan and introduced me to quite a few dishes. He never did make any desserts so this custard would be such a nice addition for our Japanese dinner night. I really like that it doesn't seem overly sweet. After a nice meal we like something light.
Ashley says
I love that mochi isn't super sweet. It has just the right amount of sweetness for enjoying after dinner!
Ramona says
WOW, this custard mochi looks amazing! my daughter has been convincing me to make this with her and I can't wait to show her this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Ashley says
It's so good and easy to make! She'll love this recipe!
Kushigalu says
This Japanese dessert is something new to me. Sounds amazingly delicious. I would love to try this for holiday.
Ashley says
You'll have to give it a try! It's really good!
Paula Montenegro says
OMG I've been wanting to make mochi for a long time and this is the recipe to try! I love the step by step photos, very clear and great for making it from scratch. Thanks for sharing! This is going straight to my Make Now! board.
Ashley says
Thank you! I'm glad you like the photos. You'll have to let me know what you think when you make it! 🙂
veenaazmanov says
Very interesting Japanese dish. Soft and gooey from the inside. Delicious dessert for the family. Presentation perfect.
Ashley says
It's a wonderful dish with the best texture! Thank you!