A popular spring dessert, Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku) is a soft and chewy mochi stuffed with fresh juicy strawberry and sweet red bean paste. Indulge yourself with this beautiful and delicious Japanese delicacy!

If you love juicy strawberries, sweet red bean paste, and chewy mochi, you will love this Japanese dessert Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku) (いちご大福).
Daifuku (大福) is a popular traditional Japanese sweet; it is soft mochi stuffed with sweet red bean paste. There are many varieties of Daifuku. They usually come with the same soft and chewy mochi exterior with different stuffing.

Modern Twist – Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku)
During the springtime, Japanese confectionery shops sell a seasonal Daifuku, Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku いちご大福), with a whole strawberry as the filling. The combination of fresh soft mochi, sweet red bean paste, and juicy and tart strawberry is a match made in heaven!
Strawberry Mochi was first created during the ’80s, so it’s considered a relatively new wagashi, like a traditional Japanese confectionery with a modern twist. Depending on regions and stores, some strawberry mochi has red bean paste filling while others use Shiroan (white bean paste). Some mochi comes with whipped cream and strawberry inside, instead of red bean or white bean paste.
As this seasonal mochi includes fresh strawberries, it is only offered during the strawberry season in Japan between winter and spring.
To Make Strawberry Daifuku
Today’s recipe is a classic strawberry daifuku. You can make your own red bean paste (recipe here) or use store-bought bean paste for a shortcut. The other ingredients are simple: shiratamako (glutinous rice flour), sugar, water, and corn starch. And fresh juicy strawberries of course! Smaller ones are easier to work with.
Making daifuku is very much like a craft. The process can be fun and meditative. When working with mochi dough, make sure that you do not stretch it too thin to prevent tearing. My daughter loves giving me a hand when comes to wrapping the sticky, elastic mochi around the berries when I make daifuku for them. It’s like working with edible play dough to her. Although her shaping skill still needs much improvement, she usually thinks her daifuku are the prettiest and tastiest. What can I say?
The daifuku keep well for a day or two in the refrigerator, although it can be hard to resist eating them all when made fresh. I hope you get to give these a try at home. Sweet, elegant, and delicate, Strawberry Daifuku is just another delicious way to celebrate the season.
Other Mochi Desserts Similar to Strawberry Mochi

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Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku)
Ingredients
- 6 strawberries
- 5.3 oz sweet red bean paste (anko) (I used store-bought “koshian“ here; you can make my recipe for Homemade Anko or Pressure Cooker Anko)
- potato starch or cornstarch (for dusting)
Using a 100 g Shiratamako Package
- ¾ cup shiratamako (glutinous rice flour/sweet rice flour)
- 1½ Tbsp sugar
- 150 ml water (⅔ cup minus 2 tsp)
Using a 120 g Shiratamako Package
- 120 g shiratamako (glutinous rice flour/sweet rice flour) (1 cup minus 2 Tbsp)
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- ¾ cup water
Instructions
- Before You Start: If you want to make more than 6 pieces, I highly recommend you to work in batches. If you do not have a microwave, please see Notes for other options to cook shiratamako.
- Rinse, dry, and hull 6 strawberries. Divide 5.3 oz sweet red bean paste (anko) into 6 same-size balls. Anko gets sticky on your hands, so wash your hands and dry completely each time you make a ball.
- Wrap the strawberries with anko. Leave the tip of the strawberry uncovered. Wash your hands and dry completely each time you wrap a strawberry with anko.
- In a medium microwave-safe glass bowl, mix the shiratamako and sugar with a whisk. For a 100 g bag, mix ¾ cup shiratamako (glutinous rice flour/sweet rice flour) and 1½ Tbsp sugar. For a 120 g bag, mix 120 g shiratamako (glutinous rice flour/sweet rice flour) (or 1 cup minus 2 Tbsp) and 2 Tbsp sugar.
- Using a silicone spatula, slowly add the water in 3 parts—a total of 150 ml water (⅔ cup minus 2 tsp) for the 100 g bag and ¾ cup water for the 120 g bag. Stir until the mixture has reached a thick consistency. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.
- First, microwave 1 minute (for 1100W microwave). Mix well with a wet silicone spatula. The mixture is still whitish and floury.
- For the second time, microwave 1 minute again, and mix well with the wet silicone spatula. Now it starts to resemble mochi, but there are still some floury parts.
- For the last time, microwave only 30 seconds. Now the mochi mixture should look translucent.
- Sift corn starch on the tray and put the mochi on top.
- With silicone spatula or kitchen scraper, fold the mochi in half one time so it won’t be as sticky and then divide into 6 equal pieces.
- Put some corn starch on your hands and flatten and expand each mochi into a 3-inch (7.6-cm) round or square. Then put the anko covered strawberry on top of it, with the tip facing down.
- Start covering the strawberry from all sides and use your thumb to hold the mochi on top.
- When all sides of mochi meet at the top, twist and close. Hold the mochi with both hands and form into nice round shape. Repeat the process for the remaining mochi.
- Serve at room temperature.
To Store
- Keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store at room temperature. Do not put in the refrigerator as it becomes hard. The daifuku mochi must be consumed within 2 days.
Notes
- Rice cooker: Put the ingredients in the bowl of the rice cooker and mix well. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until the mixture is translucent. Mix with silicon spatula at least 2 times during cooking.
- Steamer: Put the ingredients in a heatproof bowl that fits inside your steamer. Mix well and cover with a thin kitchen towel or heatproof plate. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until the mixture is translucent. Mix with silicon spatula at least 2 times during cooking.
hi! i have tried this recipe but the mochi skin rips apart..would you know why? thank you
Hello there, Jennifer! Thank you for trying Nami’s Daifuku recipe!
Your Daifuku skin was probably too thin. When flattening the mochi, please leave a little additional thickness.😉
We hope this helps!
[…] For sweets, we use it to make Mochi Ice Cream, Zenzai (Oshiruko), and Strawberry Daifuku. […]
Hello!
when you microwave the mochi flour mixture, do you leave the plastic wrap on or remove it prior to microwaving? I typically do not have plastic wrap on hand and usually avoid purchasing it, but if it’s a necessary element of this recipe I will pick some up. I have just ordered the anko and the shiratamako, and this will be my first time making mochi. Appreciate your feedback!
Hi Lydia! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
You can use a microwave-safe plastic hardcover or microwave-safe plate to cover the bowl instead of plastic wrap. You just need something to cover the bowl.
We hope this helps!
Hi! I just made your red bean paste recipe and am so happy with the result! I’m excited to use it to make this ichigo daifuku, but was wondering if it’s possible to halve the recipe? Would I have to keep the mochi mixture in the microwave for half the time as well?
Hi Lisandra, Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipes!
Yes, you can halve this recipe. As for the cooking time in the microwave, try 10 seconds less from each step.
We hope this works well for you! Happy Cooking!
Hi Nami,
1. Is it necessary to leave the dough in the fridge for 15 mins before wrapping the filling ?
2. After freezing individually wrapped mochi, will thawing give them the soft consistency as when they were freshly made ?
3. What is the estimated weight of each wrap and filling ?
Thanks.
Hi Fran! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We hope these answers would be helpful!
1) You do not need to leave the dough in the fridge for this recipe.
2) After defrosting the individually wrapped Daifuku, the mochi will be soft as when they were freshly made. However, the Strawberry would get soft and more waterly, so some people enjoy the half-frozen Strawberry Mochi for the reason.
3) The Anko is 25g each. The mochi would be around 45~50g each. (Nami divided this recipe into 6 Daifuku.)
Thanks for this recipe! I had so much fun making it 🙂
Hi Celeste! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed making Daifuku!☺️
Hi Nami,
I tried making this today, but the mochi was so sticky it won’t leave my hands and wrap around the strawberry. Do you have any suggestions? Do I need more cornstarch?
Hi Vivian, Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
It sounds like the Mochi did not have enough cornstarch or potato starch at steps 10 and 11.
We recommend using more cornstarch or potato starch to cover both sides of the mochi when you are flattening them, and don’t forget on your hands too. We hope this helps!
こんにちは! I am planning to make these for Easter in April, but my siblings don’t like anko :’) I was wondering if there was another filling you would suggest using that would be equally tasty so that they can enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
Hi Akiku, こんにちは!Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
How about Nama chocolate, custard cream, or ice cream inside the Daifuku? You may simply put fresh fruit too.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/nama-chocolate/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/green-tea-chocolate/
We hope this helps!
Dear Nami,
Can I use Mochiko if I can’t locate shiratamako? I would love to make this but haven’t had luck with that ingredient!
Hi Claire, The texture will be a little different, but you can use Mochiko. You can learn more about Mochiko vs. Shiratamako in this post: https://www.justonecookbook.com/mochiko/
We hope this helps!
question: instead of measuring the shiratamako/mochiko in cups/Tbsp, do you have a measurement by weight? For example, is the 100g of shiratamako = 3/4 cup of shiratamako?
thank you!
Hi a ishizaki, At the bottom of the ingredient list in the recipe card, please click “US Customary – Metric”. It will show you the Metric measurement. Thank you very much for trying this recipe!