Warning: cook at your own risk! Cos‘ you won‘t get enough of this soft and squishy red bean mochi. It is an irresistibly chewy and sweet rice cake with a mouthwatering red bean paste in the center. Make this dessert with glutinous rice flour and my 3-ingredient red bean paste recipe.
All About Red Bean Mochi
Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made with glutinous rice flour and a few ingredients like cornstarch, white sugar, corn oil, and milk. It is a cute, round, and chewy dessert eaten all year round. This is popularly eaten during special occasions like Japanese New Year, Children’s Day, and Girls’ Day.
It comes in various colors and fillings, making you want to return for more and try them all. You can make strawberry mochi, mango mochi, or taro mochi, to name a few. In this recipe, you will try a white mochi coated with coconut flakes and filled with red bean paste.
After steaming the mochi, it becomes a chewy mouthfeel that sticks to your teeth. What makes this mochi delicious is its red bean paste filling. However, you can choose other flavors like yam paste, lotus seed paste, and purple sweet potato paste for more variety of this dessert.
Why Glutinous Rice Flour And Not Other Flour Types?
The key ingredient to making this dessert chewy, soft, and squishy is glutinous rice flour, which is made from glutinous rice or sticky rice. It is called “glutinous” rice flour because of its glue-like texture when cooked, not because it contains gluten. So yes, you can be assured that this does not contain gluten and is considered gluten-free.
Take note that this is not the same as rice flour, which is made from long or medium-grain white rice, such as japonica, sinandomeng, angelica, or indica. Rice flour cannot be used interchangeably with glutinous rice flour since rice flour will only produce a slightly chewy texture without the sticky consistency. Read more about their main differences with my short guide, Rice Flour Vs Glutinous Rice Flour.
Where To Buy Red Bean Paste?
The second main ingredient for this recipe is the red bean paste filling. It is made from mashed red beans or adzuki beans mixed with sugar and oil. This is usually incorporated in many Chinese, Japanese, and Korean treats.
For instance, it is used for red bean paste buns as a filling and red bean bread as its flavoring. When buying this from the store, it may also be called adzuki bean paste, red bean jam, or hong dou sha (红豆沙). You can normally find this in Chinese or local Asian grocery stores and on Amazon.
But if you have the extra time to make your own, I suggest making this with my red bean paste recipe. This recipe calls for soaking, boiling, blending, and cooking in the pan with sugar and oil. Homemade is always better because you can choose all-natural ingredients without harmful preservatives.
Ingredient Substitutes And Recipe Techniques
I have a lot of essential tips to share with you, so I listed them below for your guidance. Each ingredient can be substituted with another close alternative. Get to know more about them and how they will make the ultimate mochi.
- Glutinous rice flour: As mentioned, it is hard to find a replacement for this since this is the type of flour that makes the mochi sticky and chewy. It is difficult to replicate this special texture of mochi with other types of flour, so I would refrain from substituting this. Look for this in Asian supermarkets and online stores like Amazon. Don’t worry about having leftover glutinous rice flour since you can use it to make Homemade Ham Sui Gok 咸水角 (Fried Glutinous Rice Dumplings), Tang Yuan (Glutinous Rice Balls), or Festive Snow Skin Mooncakes. However, if you really want to attempt to make this without glutinous rice flour, try using tapioca starch. It can still create a chewy texture but not the same as the stickiness of glutinous rice flour. Moreover, you will have to experiment with the amount and adjust its sweetness.
- Cornstarch: An additional ingredient to add more chewiness is cornstarch. It will make it thick and creamy after steaming. If you don’t have cornstarch, you can substitute it with the following:
- All-Purpose Flour (1:1 ratio)
- Arrowroot Powder (1:1 ratio)
- Tapioca Starch/Flour (1:1 ratio)
- Potato Starch (1:1 ratio)
- Rice Flour (1:1 ratio)
- Sugar: Use any type of sugar to adjust the level of sweetness. I recommend using white sugar though to maintain its white color. If you use colored sugar like brown sugar, coconut sugar, cane sugar, or muscovado, it will add a hint of brown to the mochi. This is perfectly fine to use if you don’t mind the color changing.
- Corn oil: I prefer using corn oil because it is lightweight and neutral-tasting. I add a bit of oil for extra moisture and fluffiness. It can also be substituted for other neutral-tasting oils, such as peanut oil, soybean oil, or vegetable oil.
- Milk: Milk makes the mochi dough creamy and milky. You can use regular milk or any plant-based milk like soy, oat, or almond. For a stronger coconut flavor, use coconut milk. If you don’t have milk, simply use water. However, it won’t make the mochi creamy or rich like milk.
- Butter: After steaming the ingredients above, I add a small amount of butter to improve its elasticity and structure. It also adds richness and creaminess to the mochi dough. Use salted or unsalted butter, vegetable shortening, dairy-free butter, or margarine.
- Red bean paste: If you are to make your own paste, you can get red beans or adzuki beans in Asian stores, international sections of grocery stores, and online markets like Amazon. The closest alternative to red beans is kidney beans. Aside from red bean paste, you can also use these fillings as an alternative:
- Mango
- Yam paste
- Lotus seed paste
- Purple sweet potato paste
- Black sesame paste
- Taro paste
- Matcha bean paste
- Fresh fruits
- Cheesecake
- Mung bean paste
- Ice cream
- Coating: As a final touch, I coat the mochi with coconut. You can use coconut flakes or shredded coconut.You can also coat it with sugar and soy flour or other flavored powder of your choice.
- Steaming method: When steaming the mochi dough, use a steamer to cook it for 20 minutes. If you don’t have a steamer, you can still steam in 5 techniques: pan with steamer rack, microwave, pan with sieve, rice cooker, and instant pot.
The Essential Ingredients And Kitchen Tools
Apart from basic kitchen items like mixing bowls, whisk, sieve, kitchen gloves, and plastic wrap, you will also need to prepare a steamer to cook the mochi dough. You don’t need other special equipment as this recipe mainly involves your hands in kneading and shaping the mochi. Here are the ingredients to prepare:
- 150g of glutinous rice flour
- 50g of corn starch
- 40g of white sugar
- 20g of corn oil
- 250ml of milk
- 20g of butter
- Red bean paste
- Coconut flakes or shredded coconut
Recipe Steps To Make Red Bean Mochi
In a nutshell, making mochi requires steaming, kneading, and shaping. Steaming is only 20 minutes but may take time with the kneading and shaping steps. Shaping it into mochi and coating it with coconut is actually the fun part!
Watch how I did it with my Instagram or TikTok tutorial videos. Finished making these mouthwatering mochi balls? Tag @kitchenmisadventures and show your creations!
- In a bowl, combine glutinous rice flour, corn starch, white sugar, corn oil, and milk.
- Stir with a whisk until well mixed.
- Sieve the mixture into another container and cover it with plastic wrap. Make holes in the plastic wrap.
- Steam it for 20 minutes.
- After steaming, add butter and knead the mixture thoroughly. Knead and stretch the dough. It should be strong enough not to break when stretched.
- Take a small piece of the dough by squeezing it out from your thumb and forefinger, forming a small ball.
- Make the dough into a flat circular wrapper, but still thick enough to hold the red bean paste.
- Place the red bean paste in the center and wrap it by sealing the edges.
- Coat it with coconut flakes or shredded coconut.
- Serve it with your favorite drink, such as Homemade Taro Bubble Milk Tea.
Did you love this chewy dessert? Why not make Red Bean Cake, Steamed Piggy Buns With Custard Filling, or Festive Snow Skin Mooncakes?
Soft & Squishy Red Bean Mochi
Ingredients
- 150 g of glutinous rice flour
- 50 g of corn starch
- 40 g of white sugar
- 20 g of corn oil
- 250 ml of milk
- 20 g of butter
- Red bean paste
- Coconut flakes or shredded coconut
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine glutinous rice flour, corn starch, white sugar, corn oil, and milk.
- Stir with a whisk until well mixed.
- Sieve the mixture into another container and cover it with plastic wrap. Make holes in the plastic wrap.
- Steam it for 20 minutes.
- After steaming, add butter and knead the mixture thoroughly. Knead and stretch the dough. It should be strong enough not to break when stretched.
- Take a small piece of the dough by squeezing it out from your thumb and forefinger, forming a small ball.
- Make the dough into a flat circular wrapper, but still thick enough to hold the red bean paste.
- Place the red bean paste in the center and wrap it by sealing the edges.
- Coat it with coconut flakes or shredded coconut.
