How to Make Mochi With a Stand Mixer
Dining out at your local Japanese restaurant isn’t the only place to enjoy light and refreshing mochi or any of its variations, like mochi ice cream. You can learn how to make mochi at home with this step-by-step recipe. All it takes is your KitchenAid® stand mixer and the right kind of rice. Discover how to make homemade mochi.
What is Mochi?
Often enjoyed at Japanese New Year, mochi is a sticky rice cake made from glutinous rice and often filled with either a sweet or savory filling. Mochi ice cream is formed by taking balls of ice cream and wrapping it inside of the mochi to create a delectable center with a pleasingly chewy shell.
What Are Popular Mochi Flavors and Fillings?
When making mochi, the flavors of your dessert will come primarily from the fillings, although you can add flavorings to the mochi itself while mixing. That means the only limit on your flavors and fillings is your imagination. Try filling your mochi with strawberry, mango or even green tea ice cream.
Mochi Ice Cream Recipe
There are two main steps to creating mochi ice cream: forming your mochi and adding your ice cream. Start by steaming your short-grain glutinous rice, then set up your stand mixer. After kneading with the dough hook and pounding using the flat beater, place dough on a sheet pan dusted well with cornstarch. Pick up the flattened dough and begin to fold and tuck it underneath itself until a ball forms. Stretch the dough ball to create a disc that can hold a small scoop of ice cream. Finish by scooping ice cream into the center of your dough then pinching the tops together to complete your mochi ice cream.
Yields
12 servings
Ingredients
White short-grain glutinous rice
Cornstarch
Homemade ice cream balls
Total Time
1 hour
Step 1: Prepare Ice Cream Balls
Create homemade ice cream using your KitchenAid® stand mixer and Ice Cream Maker Attachment1. Scoop into ice cream balls and leave them in your freezer until after the mochi has been placed onto a baking sheet.
1 Sold separately
Step 2: Prepare and Cook Your Rice
Measure your glutinous rice and rinse it in your sink. Cook the rice until it is dense and sticking together, then transfer it to your KitchenAid® stand mixer.
Step 3: Set Up Stand Mixer
For a KitchenAid® tilt head mixer: set up your stand mixer by sliding the locking lever into the "unlock" position, then tilt the motor head back. Next, place the bowl on the clamping plate and turn it in a clockwise direction until you feel it lock in. Attach your KitchenAid® Dough Hook onto the beater shaft, pressing upward. Finish by turning the attachment to the right to hook it over the shaft pin.
For a KitchenAid® bowl lift mixer: begin your stand mixer set up by pushing the bowl lift handle to the "down" position. Then fit the bowl supports over the locating pins and press down on the bowl’s back until you feel the bowl pin snap into the spring latch. Secure your KitchenAid® Dough Hook onto the beater shaft, pressing upward. Finish by turning the attachment to the right to secure it to the shaft pin.
Remember that KitchenAid® Stand Mixer Accessories should not touch the bottom of the mixing bowl. If they do, adjust your stand mixer before proceeding.
Step 4: Knead Rice Into a Dough
Run the stand mixer three minutes at a time on speed 2 until the rice is completely kneaded into a soft, thick mass. Between three-minute increments, scrape down the sides of your bowl and rotate rice as needed to help ensure even kneading. You may need to repeat this process 3-4 times. You’ll know the rice is ready for the next step when you can no longer distinguish individual grains of rice. The mixture will stick together as a large, loose ball when you flip it with the spatula.
Tip:
Because your rice will be very sticky throughout the process, try keeping your spatula in warm water between scrapings to keep it from clinging to your tools.
Step 5: Pound Dough
Remove the dough hook accessory and replace it with a KitchenAid® Flat Beater to pound the rice dough. This time, turn the stand mixer to speed 3 and begin beating the dough in 30-second increments, 3-4 times until the mochi resembles the consistency of beaten flour dough. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and the flat beater in between.
Step 6: Form Dough Balls
Pour the mochi onto a baking sheet covered in cornstarch. Sprinkle top with additional corn starch, then flatten slightly. Pick up one corner of the flattened dough and begin to fold and tuck dough underneath until a ball forms. Twist and pinch the ball to separate it from the rest of the dough and set aside.
Step 7: Add Ice Cream Balls
Flatten and stretch each dough ball to create a disc large enough to hold your ice cream. Take your homemade ice cream balls from the freezer and place them one by one onto the dough discs. Press the edges of the mochi up toward the top of the ice cream balls, pinching at the top (similar to making a dumpling) until every ice cream ball is covered in mochi dough. Place back into the freezer as you finish each ball, or serve immediately.
Shop KitchenAid® stand mixers for making mochi
Designed for the culinary creator, KitchenAid® stand mixers can help you explore the endless possibilities of mochi ice cream. With a wide assortment of attachments and accessories, you can elevate your mochi ice cream at a moment’s notice with customized flavors from freshly cut, spiralized or ground fruits, candies and more.
What Is Mochi Dough Made Of?
Mochi dough is made from glutinous rice that is kneaded and pounded flat. Once it is covered in cornstarch, the substance is then molded into a ball of dough. It has a very mild sweetness that comes from the starch in the rice.
What Kind of Rice Is Used for Mochi?
Like many desserts, mochi is best when made with ingredients containing a high starch content. That’s why the best rice to make mochi with is glutinous rice, which is stretchy and chewy. Do not make mochi with regular white rice because its starch content will make your mochi hard and brittle.
How Do You Eat Mochi?
Because mochi is very sticky, it’s best to enjoy it in small bites, however you prepare it. Mochi can be wrapped around ice cream or sweet red bean paste, cut into strips or formed into balls to top soups, grilled, toasted or baked in slabs then doused with your favorite sauce, to name just a few ways to eat mochi.
How Do You Store Mochi?
Due to the starch content of mochi, you do not want to store it in a refrigerator. If you do this, your mochi will become hard and inedible. Instead, wrap your mochi in plastic wrap, then place it into the freezer inside an airtight container. It will be good in the freezer for up to two weeks. A tip to revive hardened mochi is to use a bit of steam or to gently heat it in the microwave.
Shop KitchenAid® stand mixers, attachments and accessories
Few processes in the kitchen are as satisfying as watching your mochi turn from rice ball to irresistible dessert. With KitchenAid® stand mixers you can elevate your mochi with an endless array of ice cream flavors or other fillings. Try mochi fillings like traditional sweet red bean paste, green tea matcha or even fresh fruit. KitchenAid® stand mixer attachments and accessories can help you create delicious, fresh fillings for inventive dessert making.
