How to Make Warabi Mochi

Hi everyone! It’s Mrs. Wada, back on duty. We’ve introduced homemade sweets in our posts. In this post, I’m also going to share one, how to make a Japanese sweets called “warabi mochi”.

What is Warabi Mochi?

Warabi-mochi is a Japanese sweets made of bracken (fern) starch and sugar, usually comes along with kinako (roasted soybean powder). Originally, warabi (bracken) starch is used but since it’s very expensive now, potato or tapioca starch is used instead. I actually didn’t know about this until I checked the ingredient written on the “warabi” powder product I usually buy. Of course, it was written in Japanese and I just assumed those Kanji characters refer to warabi. When I checked, it actually means sweet potato starch. What a surprise for me. Anyway, so it only means you don’t have to have the actual warabi starch to make one, potato or tapioca starch will do.

“Warabi mochi powder” pack for 65 yen (less than $1)
good for 8 servings.

How to Make Warabi Mochi?

Usual way to prepare warabi-mochi is to cook it in a pot, by mixing well the starch and water and then, heat it up for about 2 to 3 minutes until it thickens. But I’ve learned another way to prepare with the use of a microwave just because I don’t want to wash the pot. It’s very simple, here’s how:

Ingredients (Good for 4 servings):

– 90 grams of “warabi-mochi” powder (potato or tapioca starch can be used too)
– 400~500 ml of water
– 2~3 tbsp. of sugar
– kinako (roasted soybean powder) and honey for topping
– ice cubes or iced water

Procedure:

1. In a big bowl, mix “warabi mochi” powder, sugar and water.

2. Partially cover the bowl with a plastic wrap.
3. Microwave for a total of 6 minutes. Take it out every 2 minutes, mix and microwave again. This is to make sure it’s well mixed.

4. Then, take out the bowl and pour iced water or water with ice cubes into the bowl.

5. Keep the warabi-mochi in the cold water until it’s totally cooled down.
6. Strained the warabi-mochi and wipe off the water left.

7. You can slice it in cubes, scoop out or shape it as you like.
8. Place the warabi-mochi in a plate and mix with kinako. You can also drizzle some honey. Ready to eat!

 Some Options

Although warabi-mochi with kinako tastes good as it is, mixing green tea (matcha) powder gives another variation. I’ve tried one with walnuts in it that I bought from supermarket and it was really good. I might try adding some nuts the next time I make it.

How is that to you? If you got some potato or tapioca starch left in your kitchen, why not give it a try? Let me know how it goes. Thanks for stopping by!