Vegan strawberry mochi
I am once again posting a mochi recipe. Shocking, I know. But I can’t help it, since this is my favorite dessert of all time. And like it or not, you are going to see a ton of different recipes for this Japanese treat on my blog. Vegan strawberry mochi is now in my top 3 mochi recipes.
So if you are a fan of sticky, soft desserts, this one is for you. I wrote down a bunch of useful tips and tricks in this post. If you plan to make these, make sure you read those.
A piece of advice
I know that these rice cakes look kind of complicated, but in reality they are super simple and easy to make. But in case you struggle with certain things, I am here to help you as much as I can.
First of all, I have to say – do NOT use regular rice flour! Use only glutinous (sweet) rice flour. This should be written on the packaging, but if you are still not sure, look for a letter G somewhere on the packaging. If you use any other flour you will not get sticky and soft mochi like these.
Also, if you (like myself) don’t have an actual steamer, you can improvise. I took a sieve with larger holes and put it in a large pot of water. When the water starts to boil cover the pot with a lid. Or you can improvise in any way you want, main thing is, this mochi dough should be steamed and not cooked in water.
If you can’t find sweet bean paste in a store you can make your own, I will link a recipe from a different blog right – here. Other than that, you can blend some nuts, butter and brown sugar and fill the rice cakes with that.
The mochi dough will be very sticky after you remove it from the steamer. Make sure you dust the working surface and your palms with a generous amount of corn starch. This way you’re going to prevent it from sticking to everything it touches.
Make the bean paste balls slightly smaller than the mochi dough balls. If your bean paste is not very thick, you can dip your hands into water before shaping it. Again, this way it may not stick to your palms as much.
With a kitchen brush remove all of the excess corn starch from the mochi cakes. I did not do this, as you can see in the pictures, it did not bother me. Use clean and sharp scissors to make a cut in the middle of each mochi cake. But make sure you don’t cut it in half completely.
These measurements are enough for 6 to 7 vegan strawberry mochi, depending on the size. If you need more, adjust the measurements accordingly.
Vegan strawberry mochi
Ingredients
130 g of glutinous rice flour
160 ml of water
60 g of sugar
½ tsp of oil
150 g of sweet bean paste*
fresh strawberries
corn starch
Directions
- In a small bowl mix together the glutinous rice flour, sugar, water and oil. Mix everything with a spoon or a wire whisk until it becomes smooth and there are no lumps left.
- Place this bowl in a steamer basket**, cover with a lid and steam on medium temperature for about 12 minutes. Open the lid, use a spoon to mix the mochi dough in the bowl. When you’re done, put the lid back on and steam for another 12 minutes.
- Remove the small bowl from the steamer and mix well with a spoon or a silicone spatula. Pour a generous amount of corn starch on a flat working surface and dust your hands with it. Place the mochi dough on the working surface. Use your hands to shape it in a sausage shape. Divide it into 6 – 7 pieces with a knife (depending on the desired size) and roll them into balls.
- Divide the bean paste into 6-7 pieces and roll them into balls. Take a ball of white mochi dough and press it down with your palm to flatten it. Place a bean paste ball in the center of the mochi dough, and close it off with the mochi dough by gently pinching it shut. Brush away the excess corn starch with a brush. Take a sharp pair of kitchen scissors and cut it down the middle (halfway). Place a fresh strawberry inside the cut that you made. Repeat this process until you run out of dough pieces.
- These measurements are enough for 6 to 7 vegan strawberry mochi, depending on the size. If you need more, adjust the measurements accordingly.
Notes
- * If you can’t find sweet bean paste in a store you can make your own, I will link a recipe from a different blog right – here.
- ** You can improvise a steamer by putting a sieve in a large pot with some water. Make sure that the water does not touch the sieve. Wrap a lid in a kitchen towel and cover the pot with it when the water starts to boil.
If you liked this recipe, make sure you check out my other recipes like:
Feel free to tell me what you think about this in the comments below, or send me the pictures of your own vegan strawberry mochi. If you did something differently, I would also like to hear that, I’d love to see the things you come up with.
P.S. for more recipes like this and a bunch of other stuff, follow me on Instagram, @margo_drobi.
Also, I recently started a Patreon page, where you can subscribe and help me create more/better content. In return, you will get an exclusive piece of content (recipe) each month. My plan is to increase the amount of that content if I gain a few subscribers. If you are interested and you want to find out more, I will leave the link to my Patreon right – here.