A friend exposed me to mochi when I first moved to California. The dough is made of glutinous rice pounded into a thick and sticky paste. The dough is formed into small balls, typically the size of a golf ball, then filled with a variety of sweet mixtures. Common flavors include red bean, sesame, green tea, or peanut.
I bought a package while at the asian market this weekend, included one of each flavor. From the picture you can see the sesame one (my favorite), with the peanut and red bean mochi in the background. Absolutely delicious. I’m not sure if it’s the texture I react to the most or the fillings. It’s just so chewy and gooey and good. If you don’t have an asian market nearby, you can always buy them online
Mochi also come in a frozen ice-cream version for a cool and refreshing dessert. The ice-cream fillings expand the flavor list to also include mango. Mango ice-cream mochi are truly tempting. Now that I think about it, I should have bought ice-cream mochi when I was shopping. I’ll make sure to add them to next week’s grocery list.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
These look yummy! I recently bought some black sesame seeds (although I’m not convinced that they’re not regular sesame seeds in an overcoat!) because I love how they look!
Great food blog!
Thanks for this post. I had, what I now know is, ice cream mochi when I was in Seattle over Xmas and have seen it in Trader Joes here. I was confused when I saw the recipe on Group Recipes and didn’t see the ice cream. It is all so clear to me now!
These are wonderful little treats. They also make a version using yams with a filling of sweet bean paste.
I love the chewy texture of the mochi against the nutty bites of sesame seeds – Yum!