How to make mochi: daifuku with red bean paste

Oct 7, 2026

By Jihye Dschihä

You can make mochi at home without any pounding: for daifuku, the round mochi with a sweet bean filling, all you need is glutinous rice flour, sugar, water and a microwave. This recipe makes six pieces and follows the Japanese recipe site Kurashiru.

What is mochi?

餅 (Mochi) is a Japanese rice cake made from 餅米 (Mochigome), a short-grain glutinous rice. Traditionally, the rice is steamed and then pounded during 餅つき (Mochitsuki) with wooden mallets, the kine, in a mortar, the usu, until no grains can be seen. Today this is mostly done by machines, because the pounding takes enormous effort.

At New Year, people in Japan set up 鏡餅 (Kagami mochi): two round mochi stacked on top of each other with a bitter orange on top, as an offering to the god of the new year. At kagami biraki in January, the mochi is broken, not cut.

大福 (Daifuku) is the best-known sweet form: a small, round mochi with a filling, usually 餡子 (Anko), sweet red bean paste. The name means "great luck." More about daifuku and other Japanese sweets can be found in our article Japanese sweets explained.

Which flour do I need for mochi?

Daifuku is made with glutinous rice flour. There are two kinds:

白玉粉 (Shiratamako) is wet-milled and dried. It makes the dough particularly smooth and stretchy.
もち粉 (Mochiko) is dry-milled. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture explicitly lists daifuku as one of its uses.

You can find both at an Asian grocery store, look for "glutinous rice flour" if in doubt. For dusting you also need 片栗粉 (Katakuriko). In Japan today this is mostly potato starch; regular cornstarch works too.

What ingredients do I need for daifuku?

80 g shiratamako
40 g sugar
90 ml water
180 g anko (red bean paste)
Katakuriko or cornstarch for dusting

Amounts vary in other recipes, with sugar for example ranging from 30 to 70 g. For ichigo daifuku, the strawberry version, you also need six strawberries.

How do I make daifuku in the microwave?

Divide the anko into six portions and shape them into balls. For ichigo daifuku, wrap the anko around a strawberry each.
Stir the shiratamako, sugar and water together in a microwave-safe bowl until smooth.
Cook the dough at 600 watts for 2 minutes, take it out and stir everything well.
Then cook it again at 600 watts for 1 minute 30 seconds. The dough should now be translucent and chewy.
Dust a work surface with starch, put the hot dough on it and divide it into six pieces.
Flatten each piece, place an anko ball in the middle, pull the dough over it and pinch it closed underneath.

The starch keeps the dough from sticking. You can brush off any excess starch at the end.

How do I make red bean paste myself?

Anko is available ready-made at Asian grocery stores, either as 粒餡 (Tsubuan) with whole beans or as 漉し餡 (Koshian), smooth and strained without the skins. If you want to cook it yourself: the Japanese site macaroni uses 200 g adzuki beans, 150 g sugar, 2 g salt and 1.6 liters of water. The beans are brought to a boil, boiled for about 10 minutes and left to steep for 30 minutes, then simmered until soft for 30 to 60 minutes. Add the sugar in two portions. Altogether, it takes about two hours.

How long does homemade mochi keep?

Daifuku tastes best on the same day; after that the dough turns hard. To keep it from drying out, wrap the mochi in plastic wrap or put them in a container. According to the recipe blog Chopstick Chronicles, they keep for about two weeks in the freezer; thaw them in the fridge.

Is mochi dangerous?

Mochi is chewy and sticky, and people in Japan choke on it every year. From 2020 to 2024, the Tokyo Fire Department counted 338 emergency transports in its area caused by mochi and similar sweets. Over 90 percent of those affected were 65 or older, and most accidents happened in January, when a lot of mochi is eaten for New Year. The fire department advises:

Cut mochi into small pieces.
Eat slowly and chew well.
Drink something first, such as tea or soup.
Keep an eye on small children and older people while they eat.

What is the difference from mochi ice cream and Taiwanese mochi?

In mochi ice cream, ice cream sits inside a shell of soft mochi dough. In Japan, Lotte launched Yukimi Daifuku in 1981. In the United States, Frances Hashimoto of the confectionery Mikawaya in Los Angeles is considered a pioneer; it began production in 1993.

Taiwan has mochi too, called 麻糬 (Muâ-tsî) there. It is influenced by Japanese sweets and by Hakka cuisine. The city of Hualien on the east coast is known for mochi as a souvenir. Our Royal Family Mochi also come from Taiwan, from the producer 家會香 in Nantou County, whose founder brought Japanese mochi machines to Taiwan in 1992. They come filled in seven flavors and are a good way to try mochi without cooking.