Name: How To Make Handmade Mochi Ice Cream At Home (Vanilla, Matcha, & Chocolate)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 145 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 25g Shiratama Flour (Glutinous Rice Flour), For Vanilla Mochi Ice Cream; 20g Sugar; 45cc Water; 80g Vanilla Ice Cream; 25g Shiratama Flour (Glutinous Rice Flour), For Matcha Mochi Ice Cream; 20g Sugar; 1g Matcha Powder; 45cc Water; 80g Matcha Ice Cream; 25g Shiratama Flour (Glutinous Rice Flour), For Chocolate Mochi Ice Cream; 20g Sugar; 1g Cocoa Powder; 45cc Water; 80g Chocolate Ice Cream

How To Make Handmade Mochi Ice Cream At Home (Vanilla, Matcha, & Chocolate)-Japanese Taste

DessertIce CreamMochi Summer Kid-friendlyFreezer-friendlyVanillaMatchaChocolate

Mochi Ice Cream is a sweet dessert made from mochi, a Japanese sticky rice cake, that is filled with ice cream. When you first see mochi ice cream, you may think that it looks just like daifuku, another Japanese traditional confection. It is small and round, so you cannot see what is inside until you take a bite.

There are many different kinds of mochi in Japan, but the mochi used for making mochi ice cream has a soft and chewy texture. It is also not too sweet. When you take a bite of mochi ice cream, you can enjoy both textures of chewy mochi and ice cream. The sweetness of the ice cream also matches perfectly with the chewiness of the mochi!

How did mochi ice cream come to be in Japan? Lotte, a Japanese Confectionery company started to sell it as “Yukimi Daifuku” in 1981. “Yukimi daifuku” can be translated as “snow viewing Daifuku”. Lotte named its original mochi ice cream like this because they wanted to give their product a warm image, similar to that of daifuku. In fact, Japanese people often have a warm image of daifuku, as it actually makes a popular summer dessert. (Think fruit daifuku!)

Lotte saw an opportunity to increase sales of ice cream during the winter months, by making an ice cream product that looked similar to daifuku. Thus, mochi ice cream was born.

Nowadays in Japan, you can find mochi ice cream in almost every supermarket or convenience store year-round. There are sometimes limited versions for special flavors, depending on the season. When Lotte first started selling mochi ice cream, they only sold it from September to May because they wanted to sell it as “winter ice cream.” The idea was originally for mochi ice cream to be eaten in a warm room when it was snowing and cold outside.

However, mochi ice cream can easily be made at home too. If you’ve never made mochi before, you can actually make it at home with only a few simple ingredients and also using a microwave.

We are introducing three different variations of Mochi Ice Cream in this recipe; Vanilla, Matcha, and Chocolate. With Vanilla, you can enjoy the simple flavor of “original” mochi with vanilla ice cream. The Matcha flavor is perfect for Matcha lovers, as both the mochi and ice cream are matcha-flavored. The Chocolate flavor is recommended for those who are new to mochi or mochi ice cream. It is also a popular flavor among children in Japan.

You can store this Mochi Ice Cream wrapped in plastic wrap and a container with a lid in the freezer for up to 3 months. As it can be stored for a long time, it is perfect for unannounced guests. Enjoy it before it melts!

Instructions

1) Gathering the Ingredients

Gather the ingredients together.

Note: We are making three different flavors of mochi ice cream in this recipe. But if you only want to make one flavor, adjust the ingredients accordingly to the amount you want to make. In this recipe, you will be able to make two pieces of mochi ice cream for each flavor.

2) Preparing the Ice Cream Filling

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Divide the ice cream into 40g portions per flavor, wrap each portion in plastic wrap, and shape them into rounds. Freeze them for 30 minutes.

Expert's Tip

How To Make Handmade Mochi Ice Cream At Home (Vanilla, Matcha, & Chocolate)

This flour is made from 100% Japanese glutinous rice. If you like making Japanese sweets, this shiratamako flour may be a very useful ingredient for you. You can make various Mochi sweets with it so easily at home, such as this Mochi Ice cream, Daifuku, Dango, and so on.

3) Making the Mochi Dough

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Prepare three bowls and add all of the ingredients for the mochi dough into each bowl. Stir until well combined.

At this point, the texture of the mochi dough will be very loose.

4) Cooking the Mochi in the Microwave

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Cover each bowl of mochi dough with plastic wrap or use a microwave-safe lid, and microwave each one at 600W for 1 minute. Be sure to keep an eye on them while they are microwaving.

After a minute is up, take the mochi dough out of the microwave and mix it with a heatproof spatula. The mochi dough will be very hot. Please be careful not to burn yourself.

Microwave the mochi again at 600W for an additional 30 seconds. Then mix again very well from the bottom of the bowl thoroughly to ensure that it is evenly cooked. The texture of the mochi should be very sticky, and it should look a little translucent.

Tips: The mochi dough is very sticky, so when washing your dishware after making mochi, allow it to soak for a while before attempting to wash.

5) Dividing Each Flavor Into Separate Pieces

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Dust potato starch onto a flat work surface and scrape the mochi dough from the bowl onto the surface.

Dust the top of the dough with potato starch.

Split each dough into 2 pieces.

Tip: The mochi dough will still be very hot, so please handle it carefully.

6) Shaping & Resting The Mochi

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Gently shape each piece of mochi dough using a dough scraper, rolling pin, or your hands into a flat shape.

Wrap them in plastic wrap and allow them to cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

7) Making the Mochi Ice Cream

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Lightly remove excess potato starch from the surface of the mochi with a brush.

Place a portion of ice cream in the center of a piece of mochi, and wrap it gently by closing the ends of the mochi together with your fingers.

8) Freezing and Enjoying the Mochi Ice Cream

Wrap the mochi in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for an hour, or until it is completely frozen. Then, take it out and enjoy! Let it soften for a few minutes before consuming.

Ayako Kidokoro

Ayako is a recipe writer based in Frankfurt, Germany. Though she is originally from Japan, she has lived across five countries both in America and Europe. She loves writing dessert-related recipes and sharing them with Japanese Taste readers, but she also loves educating people about Japanese tradition, culture, and language. She loves exploring and making new recipes from scratch, but other than food, she also loves doing yoga to help her stay in shape and relax.

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