Mochi madness: How this stretchy, chewy, dramatic dessert became a viral hit

Biting into a freshly made mochi ball is all about texture. It starts with the velvety outer layer, gives way to a pillow-soft bite, and finishes with a satisfying, springy chew. This parade of sensations happens even before fillings and flavours join the party.

A traditional Japanese dish, mochi’s history stretches back thousands of years, with endless variations, including street snacks and speciality preparations for the samurai class.

You’ll find similar chewy bites in culinary traditions from China and Taiwan to Korea and Malaysia. But more recently, here in Australia, Japanese mochi have evolved from izakaya menu item and tasty travel experience to social media sensation, dessert destination pin-up and chilled supermarket treat.

What’s mochi made of, and what’s the hype?

You’ve probably seen clips of traditional Japanese mochitsuki, where mochi dough is slapped with water and rhythmically pounded by hefty wooden mallets to create the final chewy texture. Less dramatically, mochi can be made at home by mixing glutinous rice flour, cornflour and liquid to create a slurry that is cooked to a rubbery dough and kneaded for a soft and pleasantly chewy finish.

“Mochi is the Japanese word for glutinous rice that’s been pounded to get a very chewy texture,” says cookbook author and creative force behind new LA sweet spot TuCha, Catherine Zhang.

“It doesn’t have to be sweet. Traditionally, you can have them with soy sauce or seaweed … you might even have them stir-fried with vegetables,” says Zhang, who shares tips in her book Mochi, Cakes and Bakes, as well as on her popular social media platform.

But it’s the sweetened version, known as daifuku, that’s become popular in Australia, bursting with decadent fillings.

Daifuku are composed of a thin mochi skin stretched into a dumpling-style wrapper for flavoured creams, fresh fruit and bean pastes. “Daifuku are traditionally a New Year or celebration treat in Japan,” says Sunny Liu.

Liu is co-owner of SevenH co-retail space in Sydney’s Lane Cove, where their Daifuku bar makes fresh, filled mochi daily, in seasonal flavours that sell out by lunchtime.

“They need to be consumed in one day. Overnight, the skin hardens slightly, and mochi is all about the texture and mixing everything in the right ratios,” he says. Daifuku’s mochi are so soft that they come with a piece of string to cut them in half.

“Cutting with the string is a tradition and experience that shows how fresh they are,” Liu says.

Travel, texture, theatre

“There’s definitely been a rise in interest,” says Stella Lay, who turned her love of mochi from her own travels into online business Nommies Co., selling handmade, cream-filled daifuku in Flemington, Melbourne.

“Travelling to Japan has become so popular, so a taste for those treats has rubbed off on Australians,” she says. “Mochi has become really big because more people know about it now and love the texture.”

Zhang agrees that the texture gets people hooked. “We have an obsession with things that are stretchy and chewy. It’s part of that viral textural search,” she says.

The contrasting and decadent fillings and string-cutting tradition add theatre to the experience, Liu says.

“We always have one on display cut open to show what’s inside and what you’re getting. It shows off the quality of the fruit and filling.”

What makes a good one?

Zhang, Liu and Lay agree that the glutinous rice flour (which doesn’t actually contain gluten) used in mochi making is all-important. Flour from mochigome short-grain glutinous rice is best, particularly if you can find Japanese shiratamako flour, which contributes to the final texture.

Despite the abundance of wooden mallet videos online, both Zhang and Lay assure us that as long as the mochi dough is kneaded well and stretched, you’ll achieve an excellent texture. So if you plan to DIY, then stretch, stretch, stretch.

For Liu, flavours can be as varied as you like, as long as fillings are high quality and the fruit is in season. “Otherwise, it doesn’t match up to the rest of the daifuku.”

Jane’s DIY strawberry and cream-filled mochi

INGREDIENTS

Mochi dough

• 100g glutinous rice flour
• 30g cornflour, plus extra for rolling
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 180ml strawberry milk
• 1 tbsp butter (or rice bran oil)

Filling

• 250g cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup thickened cream
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 4 tbsp berry jam
• 6 x large strawberries (4 diced and 2 sliced for garnish)

METHOD

1. For the filling, whip the softened cream cheese until smooth, adding the cream and caster sugar and whipping until combined.
2. Put your filling into a piping bag and ensure your berries are sliced and diced.
3. Chill the filling and berries in the fridge until needed.
4. For the mochi, mix the rice flour, cornflour and caster sugar in a microwave-safe bowl. Pour in the strawberry milk and whisk until smooth, taking care to avoid lumps.
5. Cover the bowl with cling film and poke holes in it. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, then give it a mix – it will be starting to thicken, and you want to ensure it cooks evenly.
6. Put the cling film back over the bowl and microwave for 2 more minutes.
7. Remove the cling film from the hot mixture, being careful to avoid the hot steam. Add the butter and use a non-stick spatula to mix it in completely. Set it aside to cool.
8. Once cool, wet your hands and the workbench (keep a bowl of water nearby to re-wet as needed). Tip the cooled dough onto the bench. Knead and stretch the dough vigorously for about 5 minutes. The more you stretch it, the softer the final texture will be. Add a little more water as you go to prevent the dough from sticking. Cut the mochi dough into 8 even pieces and roll them into balls.
9. Generously dust the bench and a rolling pin with extra cornflour to prevent the dough from sticking. Roll each mochi ball into a thin disc. Dust a small dish or cup with cornflour. Set one mochi disc into the prepared dish or cup, ensuring the edges of the dough come up the sides.
10. Pipe about ⅛ of the cream filling into the middle of your mochi wrapper, creating a cup for the ingredients. Add a dollop of jam and a few pieces of diced fresh strawberry. Cover the berries with a little more cream, then gently pull the mochi edges together and seal them to form a neat, closed parcel.
11. Pinch it closed tightly to seal it, turn it out into a patty case and top with a slice of fresh strawberry.
12. Repeat until the wrappers and filling are all used.

Makes 8 filled mochi

Tip: For a simpler version, roll the mochi dough into small balls and serve them alongside the whipped cream filling and fresh berries for dipping.