From sweet to savory, there are various types of mochi (Japanese rice cake) we enjoy in Japan. Here’s a quick and easy guide to making three different delicious flavors for your mochi at home.
After I shared the Japanese New Year soup Ozoni recipe, I received a lot of feedback from my readers regarding the “mochi” I added in the soup. They were surprised that I added “mochi” in the savory soup and asked me if it’s sweet. The feedback made me realized that the Japanese and non-Japanese see the word “mochi” quite differently.
Watch How To Enjoy Japanese Mochi お餅の食べ方
Enjoy toasted Japanese mochi in 3 delicious ways; dip in soy sauce, kinako (sweet soybean flour), or wrap anko (sweet red bean paste) inside.
When you hear the word “mochi”, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Many of you think of the round mochi that is stuffed with some kind of sweet filling such as red bean paste or chocolate, strawberry, mango, etc for more modern flavors.
However in Japan, we usually call that type of sweet mochi Daifuku. So what is Mochi then?
What Is Japanese Mochi (餅)?
In Japan, when we say “mochi”, it usually implies to plain mochi – either freshly made or cut packaged mochi available at the supermarkets.
Photo credit: (left) Miyuki Meinaka, (top right) Pixeltoo, (bottom right) Kropsoq via Wikimedia Commons.
Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome (糯米), a short-grain japonica glutinous rice. The rice is pounded into paste (left pic) and molded into the desired shapes such as round shape mochi, Maru Mochi (top right pic).
When we eat mochi at home, we buy Kiri Mochi (bottom right pic) that are individually packaged in plastic bags.
How To Enjoy Japanese Mochi At Home?
The freshly made Japanese mochi can be included as part of savory or sweet dishes. For savory dishes, mochi is used as a topping for miso soup, Ozoni, and hot udon noodle soup (we call this menu Chikara Udon (力うどん)). It can also be added inside Okonomiyaki.
For sweets, we use Japanese mochi to make Mochi Ice Cream, Zenzai (Oshiruko), Strawberry Daifuku, and more.
Making mochi from glutinous rice takes a long time and effort, therefore most families don’t make mochi from scratch anymore. If we want to enjoy freshly pound mochi, we can do so by attending a mochi pounding event or some folks buy a small Japanese mochi pounding machine at home for this task (some of Japanese bread makers has an option for mochi pounding!).
These days to enjoy mochi all year round and during the Japanese New Year, we can buy these pre-cut Japanese mochi (Kiri Mochi, 切り餅) from the supermarkets.
Today I’ll show you 3 most popular recipes to enjoy mochi using these Kiri Mochi. Each family cooks the mochi differently based on their preference. My family (in Japan) love crispy toasted mochi rather than boiled mochi, so we always toast mochi first before flavoring. Read the Note section of the recipe for the microwaving and boiling method.
Types of Japanese Mochi
Here are the three flavors we make today. Anko Mochi, Kinako Mochi, and Isobeyaki.
Anko Mochi (餡子餅) is a mochi where we place red bean paste inside the mochi.
Kinako Mochi (きな粉餅) is mochi coated with a mixture of kinako (roasted soybean flour) and sugar.
Isobeyaki (磯辺焼き) is mochi coated with a mixture of soy sauce and sugar and wrapped with nori seaweed. Most people prefer Isobeyaki without sugar, but my family always makes it with sugar. I assume this is not based on regional differences, but it depends on the family’s preference.
What’s your favorite? When I was growing up, I couldn’t pick my favorite… So for the Japanese New Year Day, I used to eat 6 pieces of mochi – 2 in Ozoni, 2 Anko, 1 Kinako, and 1 Isobeyaki. I wish I am young again so I could eat 6 pieces of mochi in one sitting without worrying about increasing my waist size!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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- 3 pieces kirimochi (rice cakes) (or homemade mochi)
- 1 cup hot water
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbspsugar sugar (optional) (See Note 1)
- 2 sheets nori (seaweed) (I use seasoned Japanese nori)
- 2 Tbspkinako kinako (soybean flour)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp red bean paste (anko) (for homemade recipe, see Notes)
-
Gather all the ingredients.
- Place mochi in a toaster oven and toast until puffed up and golden brown, about 10 minutes (See Note 2).
- Add 1 Tbsp. of sugar to soy sauce and microwave for 20 seconds.
- Add 1 Tbsp. of sugar to kinako and mix well.
- Gently smash the mochi with your hand.
- For Kinako Mochi, soak the mochi in hot water, then dredge in the kinako + sugar mixture.
- For Isobeyaki, soak the smashed mochi in soy sauce and sugar mixture and wrap with seasoned nori.
- For Anko mochi, pull the smahsed mochi from both side and wrap around anko. It’s sticky, so be careful when handling.
1: Most people prefer Isobeyaki without sugar, but my family always makes it with sugar. I assume this is not based on regional differences, but it depends on family’s preference.
2: Besides toasting/roasting the mochi, you can also boil it in the water until soft. You can also use a microwave to cook mochi. In a small bowl, put a mochi and cover with water. Microwave it until it’s soften.
Homemade Anko recipe : click here.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Hi there!~
My family and I really like mochi, so my mom searched up mochi recipes on youtube and came up with her own. She uses a microwave and it comes out just as delicious as the traditional ones! We use chocolate chips and peanuts instead of red bean. I brought them to school once and everyone loved it!
Emily
Hi Emily! Yes microwave method is very easy but I feel like mochi gets harder soon (if we don’t eat right away). I have to try chocolate chip and peanuts with mochi! That sounds like a nice dessert mochi. 🙂 Thank you for sharing!!
Our family eats mochi roasted, as you described, and then dipped in shoyu only, no sugar, then wrapped in toasted nori. We are Japanese Americans. My family is originally from Odawara. Is that why? My husband’s family is from Hiroshima, and they like it sweet. My extended family, when we have mochitsuki, has two bowls of shoyu out for dipping the freshly made mochi into–one labeled “shoyu” and the other “in-laws”! The in-laws all like the sugar mixture. Is it a regional thing, or is my family just odd?
Hi Susan! Some people add sugar to soy sauce but I believe majority of people just dip in soy sauce only for Isobeyaki. I am not sure why or who in my family started soy sauce and sugar. 🙂 Unlike ozoni, I believe it’s not based on the region but it depends on family’s preference. The “in-laws” label is too funny!!
Our family makes isobeyaki by pan frying the mochi in butter, instead of toasting, before putting it in the shoyu/sugar sauce. I also love mochi in a grated daikon (white radish) and shoyu sauce.
Hi Rochelle! A lot of people make it in the frying pan too! Ohhh Oroshi Mochi! I like i t too, but it’s very refreshing and I can eat more than I should. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve seen kiri mochi at my local Asian supermarket and found it strange that they come in block form, like soap :p Looking forward to try this recipe : )
Hi Catherine! Haha now you know how we use it. We have round shape mochi too. It used to be round (handmade) but with machine, square was easier to cut… so now we have both shapes. 🙂
Love mochi!!! Love kiri mochi. I have a little grill type thing I use on the stovetop to heat them up. I love when they poof up..then dunking them in the sauce just makes me happy! 🙂 Love mochi and red bean paste too. Now I want some. 😀
Thank you Patty! We can have a mochi party and definitely can finish a whole pack of mochi together. 😀
My parents had one of those electric pounding machines and would make lots of Mochi to give to relatives on New Years as gifts. Now I make do with the precut ones.
Hi Julie! I’m jealous! It’s so nice to have the “just pounded” mochi…. the best mochi!!! I wish we can do monthly mochitsuki party. 😀
Thank you for such a good recipe, we like to put kirimochi in waffle maker! And top it with some berry sauce! That is so delicious)
Hi Sasha! I haven’t tried making mochi in waffle maker! I will give it a try! 😀
I came across this by searching for Japanese rice cakes. I love all I have read!! I am half Japanese and love mochi but not sure where to get some. Before my mom passed, she always found some about 150 miles from here. I lived in Japan for almost a 4 years when I was young.
Hi Irene! Thank you so much for your kind words! Japanese grocery stores should carry mochi (kiri mochi) especially this time of season. I don’t think it’s easy to find in Asian supermarkets as it’s very specific to Japanese food. Hope you can find kiri mochi and enjoy eating mochi! 🙂
Isobeyaki made with sugar! My favorite way to eat mochi!
Hi Tina! Yay! It’s so delicious. As a variation of Isobeyaki, have you tried sandwiching cheese? I know it might sound crazy but it’s one of popular variations in Japan too… 😀
Aloha!
We grew up eating fried mochi in these styles as well. One thing we never tried was taking it along in our obento. They are so delicious that they get eaten so quick. Have you ever packed them up in obento? If so, how long before they get too hard to eat?
Mahalo nui!
Aloha JoAnna! We don’t really put it in obento because mochi should be eaten right after toasted. It gets so hard once it’s cooled and it doesn’t taste good (or we are not supposed to eat like that). At least the mochi that’s harden and toasted. It’s okay with more like daifuku-style mochi though. Since it has sugar inside the mochi, it stays softer. Hope this makes sense. I highly recommend eating this mochi (shared in this post) in less than 15 minutes! 😀
Hi Nami!!!
I love your website and your vídeos, you’re a great cook!! I think your post about mochi is wonderful, really informative for people that don’t know the different types there are, can’t believe I just saw it.
In my home there’s always freshly made mochi around new year, it has to be made with a pounding machine, since we can’t find packaged ones. My personal favorite is kinako mochi, although I usually don’t soak it in hot water, doesn’t it lose its crispiness???
Also I’d like to ask you, do you have a recipe for Manjū??? Those little steamed buns filled with anko, I love them, but I’ve never know how to make them.
Thanks for all your great work Nami!!!
Best wishes!!!
Hi Kokichi! Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed reading this post. 🙂 I’m so jealous that you make fresh mochi every near years. I grew up in the city (in Japan) where no one owns a usu and kine so unless there is a mochi pounding event, I don’t get to eat fresh one! I hope this tradition will keep going…
I don’t completely “soak” in the water, but make the surface of mochi wet so kinako will be attached. If you have a fresh mochi, you don’t have to because everywhere is sticky. Unfortunately, with kiri mochi, only inside is sticky…
I added Manju recipe on my list. Thank you!
How do you store mochi? I recently made mochi myself (actually I jsut made it right now!!!) and I was wondering: Should I put it in the fridge? Should I wrap it in cellophane and leave it in my kitchen cabinets? so please, even though I know you uploaded this AGES ago, Could you please answer?
Hi Thomas! The best way is to freeze them. It gets moldy when you keep it in the fridge/room temp. I highly recommend to wrap with plastic and place it in airtight bag or container. 🙂
Hi! I just bought some of the hard mochi cakes to use for a Girl Scout event about Japan. I want to boil them to make them soft for the girls to try it at the event. I appreciate your recipe and ideas of how to flavor it for them!! I do have a questions – how long will it stay soft after it is boiled. I may have to prep this ahead of time and hoping it doesn’t harden back up before the event.
Thanks!!
Hi Linda! Unfortunately mochi is something that you HAVE TO eat when it’s just cooked… to enjoy what mochi is all about – that elastic, springy, chewy, mochi-like texture (there is no word for it in English), you have to cook and eat right away. Otherwise, it’s very unpleasant. Just chewy, hard, rice block. Will stay soft for… maybe 10-15 minutes? If you can use a portable pot (boiling) or microwave, you can cook right before you pass the food. Otherwise… this kind of mochi is not meant to be served after. Dessert mochi stays soft because mochi includes lots of sugar. Hope this helps!
Hi Nami,
Thank you for the reply. Sadly it is not the answer I was hoping for. I don’t know if we will have access to an electrical outlet in order to take items to prep the mochi right there or not.
One other thing we found was similar – Sanshoku Dango – which seems to be colored mochi wrapped around red bean paste. They are in small balls that do stay soft and I could cut them into pieces to serve. We also found Kashiwa Mochi – sticky rice cakes wrapped around red bean paste and then wrapped in an oak leaf. That mochi also seems to stay soft and sticky. I may just go with one of those.
We were also planning to play a video of a mochi pounding – so we were looking for the sticky rice that comes from the pounding.
Anyway, thank you again for the response!!
Hi Linda! I am so sorry. The sweeten mochi (made with sugar) tend to last longer for 2-3 days, and it’s perfect for events like yours. I don’t have Sanshoku Dango recipe (I should make it…), but here is my dango and other sweet mochi recipe.
Dango: https://www.justonecookbook.com/mitarashi-dango/
Kashiwa Mochi: https://www.justonecookbook.com/kashiwa-mochi/
Sakura Mochi: https://www.justonecookbook.com/sakura-mochi/
My recommendation is
Warabi mochi: https://www.justonecookbook.com/warabi-mochi/
Daifuku: https://www.justonecookbook.com/daifuku/
Strawberry Daifuku: https://www.justonecookbook.com/strawberry-daifuku/
I recommend practicing ahead of time, at least once. Mochi is sticky, and if you don’t know what to expect, it can be a disaster…. so practice run really helps!
Yes, you hit the nail on the head! Americans only seem to know of daifuku mochi, which is aggressively marketed as just “mochi” here in the US. They even have a freezer full of ice cream mochi at Whole Foods now where you can buy them a la cart for $2 each. Yikes!
Your recipe taught me these great and easy ways to enjoy mochi! I made all three! My favorite was anko mochi. Isobeyaki mochi was my second favorite. Finally, kinako mochi was also very nice!
I would eat anko mochi as dessert or snack, Isobeyaki mochi as a snack or appetizer, and kinako mochi would be delicious with tea!
Kiri mochi is my favorite part of oden… I put them in inariage for oden instead of aburaage because I am terrible and like them sweet. XD
Do you have a favorite now from the three in this recipe?
Hi Lion! When Japanese people hear mochi, first thing in our mind is this mochi we eat in new years, not the sweet kind as we have different names (such as daifuku mochi, dango, etc), but anything similar texture is considered “mochi” in the US. I guess it’s a good that people start to even recognize what mochi is. 🙂 But it’s more work to correct them saying “no, that’s not what we consider ‘mochi’ in Japan”…. LOL.
Yeah mochi ice cream is pretty popular and I feel it’s even more popular here than Japan. It’s interesting.
So happy you liked all three kinds. This is the 3 kinds that you’ll always see. Some people make variations. I like cheese and soy sauce combination, but I didn’t share it in this post because the Japanese processed cheese has different taste from cheese available in the US. I tried with swiss cheese, but it’s not the same… basically you sandwich cheese with mochi (like anko) and dip in soy sauce, then wrap with nori. My dad’s favorite and it’s my favorite too. I used to eat 6 mochi on 3 days of New Years. 2 anko, 2 for Ozoni, one kinako, and one cheese/soy sauce. You know how much I love mochi even when I was small. I can’t pick a few, so I end up with 6 mochi and eat less on main dish (Osechi). For the record, I only eat that much mochi for the new years… 😀
Me too, my son and I love aburaage & mochi! Thank you Lion!
Do these mochi have to be eaten fresh ? I want to make them for party treats, wonder if I can make it a day before.
Hi Wendy! Yes, this type of mochi has to be eaten right away. Once it becomes cold it will become hard and tough. Dessert mochi can last longer and stay softer because it has sugar in it. But not this kind…
Finaly, after so many attempts and failures, I managed to make a perfect mochi using my microwave. I tried all three and to my surprise the ones I loved mst were the isobeyaki !!! Ok I am not so much a sweet thooth, but I never thought a sweet rice paste would taste so delicious, almost caramellized-fish dish. I froze some leftover mochi and tomorrwo I am going to thaw them … let’s see what happens 🙂
Hi Rita! I’m so happy to hear you like Isobeyaki! The soy sauce is nice savory flavor. Let me know how frozen mochi becomes… I think… it will be hard…. unless you microwave again or heat up. 😀
Thawed mochi was simply perfec, just as if it was fresh made. I heated on a stone pane rather than in the oven, just to make it faster. It worked marvellously, even better than in the oven. Isobeyaki again … I am getting addicted … I might be developping a Jappanese-taste sense… a big change from boring italian-taste sense people around here have 😀
Hi Rita! I’m absolutely thrilled to hear your feedback. Thank you for writing! How awesome that you’re addicted to something new, and so different from “usuals”. 🙂 Hope you can discover more Japanese food with me. 😉 xoxo
I make mochi with my tiger mochi maker – if I want to make an filled mochi ( like manju/daifuku, do I have to make it with mochiko? I just realized if I make it with fresh mochi it will have to be eaten right away or it will dry up – it looks like your instruction shows to grill the mochi then put an in the middle and eat right away?
Hi Nadine! I’m jealous, I want to have mochi maker but I probably have no control when it comes to mochi…
You can make daifuku with freshly pound mochi BUT it gets harder when you keep it. To make the mochi softer and last longer, sugar is added and it helps a little bit, but the fresh one just becomes too hard.
So if you plan to eat right away, sure!
My instruction above is how to eat Kirimochi (or fresh mochi) and it’s not daifuku or manju (different things).
https://www.justonecookbook.com/daifuku/
Manju recipe coming soon (this month). 🙂
Hahahahaha…I’m one of those people who wonders to do with those squares of rock hard mochi. Now I know what to do with it. I I tried the freshly grilled ones in Japan but never knew that it was this simple.
Can I substitute the kinako with Korean Kong garu (roasted soybean powder) or misutgaru (roasted mix grain powder)?
Thanks
Hi Ima! Sure! You can use any seasonings – just adjust the sweetness or savory taste. I’m glad to hear you get to try those “square rock hard mochi” 😀
Hi! I recently bought a pack of kirimochi, whats the best way to store it? Thank you!
Hi Reece! In a cool place, like pantry cabinet. 🙂
Hello Nami! My individually packaged mochi has drops of water(?) on the side of the package. Is it still okay to eat?
Hi Sukogirl! If it appeared recently, I think it is okay. If you see any mold growing inside, I would not eat it. Check to see if there is no mold growth. 🙂
Been seeing mochi blocks in the supermarket not knowing how delicious it is! Finally bought a pack and tried this recipe. It is a success! Thank you Nami!!!
Hi Sabena! OHHHHH! Isn’t it awesome?! You can eat mochi anytime now. 😉 Thank you so much for your kind feedback! xo
I tried a “molasses and soybean flour” drink in Nara that was great – but I don’t know the name in Japanese, and I can’t find a recipe online! Can you help? I think it’s made with kinako. It was a bit like a hot chocolate. Thank you!!
Hi Mari! Maybe something like this?
https://www.kurashiru.com/recipes/fc53c165-353e-4c26-b844-95b6ef97cbc2 (Use Google chrome to translate the page to English)
I am an American trying Mochi for the very first time. I found it almost difficult to eat because it is so gummy in the middle, almost making it difficult to breathe with a big glob in my mouth. Is that typical? Is there any way to reduce this effect? A google search told me that people often choke to death on Mochi!
Hi Heather! Thank you for trying mochi for the first time. It is true that some old people (or kid) choke eating mochi. We always say not to stuff yourself with mochi and we eat small bite only! It is indeed a unique texture that I can’t compare it with anything else. It’s chewy, sticky, elastic all the same time.
Did you get Kiri Mochi (like one I showed here)? How did you season it to eat? I can imagine it’s definitely something strange texture you never tried as I can’t find something similar to describe the mochi texture when someone asked me how it’s like… 🙂
Thank you Nami-san. Sorry I am
not aware that mochi or rice cake is available in a pack and ready to cook. I will try this next time with my favorite anko.
Arigato gozaimasu.
Hi Neri! Let me know how you enjoy the kiri mochi! 🙂