A hearty flavoured and unique, chewy gluten-free treat; a natural favourite in Japan.

Mochi is made from a sticky rice known as sweet rice, it comes as a hard block that, to be honest, doesn’t look appetising. But when it is cooked, it goes golden and crispy on the outside and gorgeously gooey on the inside. Clearspring mochi can be found either with 100% brown rice or be made with added mugwort ("Yomogi" herb), a wild Japanese herb and that gives a deep, earthy and very savoury flavour.

Traditional and conventional mochi
Made the traditional way, whole sweet rice is soaked, steamed, and pounded. It’s then allowed to dry until firm enough to slice.

Although mochi is still hand-pounded by Japanese home-cooks for special occasions like New Year, most of the bright white mochi found in Japanese supermarkets is made from highly refined sweet rice squeezed through a modern industrial food processor.

Pounding sweet rice is backbreaking work, but mochi produced this way tastes far better than the industrial version. What's more, some traditionalists feel factory-extruded mochi lacks the healing qualities of the traditional pounded variety.
Clearspring brown rice mochi producer, Nobuyuki Kojima, one of the few small mochi makers in Japan, have designed a unique sweet rice pounding method that combines the quality of pounding with the convenience of automation, producing high-energy mochis that taste and feel just like the real traditional thing.

Mochi and health
According to traditional Japanese folk medicine, mochi is beneficial for anemia, blood-sugar imbalances, and weak intestines. It’s also helpful for pregnant and lactating women, as it encourages a plentiful supply of breast milk.
Energising and easy to digest, mochi is an excellent food if you’re feeling weak. Japanese farmers eat lots of mochi during winter because of its reputation for increasing stamina and warmth.

Cooking With Mochi
Mochi is supremely versatile, easy to cook and generally served as the main ingredient of a meal. Traditionally, it is included in the first meal of the Japanese New Year, usually in soup or stew, as it symbolises longevity and wealth.

It can be baked, grilled, pan-fried, or deep-fried. When cooked, it puffs up to nearly double its original size, developing a crisp crust outside and a soft, melting interior. If cooked too long, the surface cracks and the soft part inside oozes out. So, while cooking, watch carefully!

- Baked or grilled mochi:
They are often eaten with a sweet miso topping. Baked mochi can also be cut into bite-sized pieces and added to soups during the last minute of cooking.

- Pan or deep-fried mochi:
They don’t need anything more than a squirt of soya sauce or a soya sauce and fresh ginger dip.

- Other ways of cooking:
Mochi can also be rolled in rice syrup, then coated with ground walnuts and eaten as dessert.

- Mochi as a snack
Naturally filling and slightly sweet, this rice food is also great on its own as a snack. For the ultimate quick and easy snack, shallow frying a couple of pieces of mochi, then rolling the hot and squidgy rectangles in toasted nori smeared with grated ginger, tamari, tekka and wasabi... Heaven and whole grain!

Producer - Kojima Foods [1] [1] (Japanese only)

Brown Rice Mochi
Ingredient: Whole grain sweet brown rice

Mugwort Mochi
Ingredient: Whole grain sweet brown rice, mugwort herb

Available in 250g packs