Strawberry Mochi is a Japanese sweet and it is also known as Ichigo daifuku or strawberry daifuku. This eye-catching Japanese dessert is a cute strawberry wrapped with sweet bean paste and mochi. Surprisingly it is actually easy to make. Keep reading for I am going to show you how.
What is Strawberry Mochi
Strawberry mochi is known as Ichigo Daifuku in Japan and is very popular. It appeared about 30 years ago in Japan while I was still living in Ise city. There isn’t a clear indication of who invented it or where it began.
However I believe it started from a little Japanese sweet shop in Tsu city in Mie prefecture. I lived in Ise city, famous for the Ise Shrine, right next to Tsu city. I remember driving for about one hour to Tsu city to buy these sweets. It was sensational!
Hero Ingredient: strawberry
Whoever placed the strawberry in the centre of Daifuku sweet(大福餅) is genius. Strawberry’s tangy sweetness match perfectly with sweet bean paste and mochi. So pick fresh strawberries which are in season and also choose small round ones, because they are easy to handle and look cute when wrapped with bean paste and mochi.
Red bean paste or White bean paste
You have seen strawberry mochi wrapped with sweet red bean paste or sweet white bean paste. Both delicious of course, so it comes to your preference. I prefer white bean paste because that’s what I used to buy and eat in Japan. You can buy Sweetened Red Beans
from Asian grocery shops or Japanese grocery stores or online. Also, you can make red bean paste and white bean paste from scratch.
How to make mochi?
Mochi is made by pounding steamed mochigome rice which is short-grain Japonica glutinous rice. But to make this sweet treat, there is a way to make mochi easily, using rice flour called “Shiratamako”. Same way as to make mochi ice cream.
If you can not get Shiratamako
, you can use Glutinous Rice Flour
, which I used to update this post and Mochiko
. They are made out of the same ingredients but made into flour differently.
Two different ways to wrap the strawberry mochi
1. classic
The classic ichigo daifu that I used to buy had the strawberry is in the centre of mochi. The strawberry is completely wrapped inside the sweet bean paste and mochi.
2. Ichigo daifuku in Tokyo
I went back to Japan last year and visited Tsukiji fish market and strolled along where street food stalls are packed with tourists. The appearance of ichigo daifuku was different from the classic one. The strawberry was stuck between the snipped top of daifuku mochi.
If you are going to make this type, skip step 3 and 4 in the recipe below. Instead, divide the sweet bean paste into 6, shape them to round ball shape and set aside. Make mochi by following the direction in the recipe, wrap the bean paste ball. Then snip the top of the daifuku with clean kitchen scissors and stick a strawberry into the cut.
my verdict
In terms of taste, both are delicious because they use the same ingredients. It’s just a different way to present. I found the Tokyo style is easier to make. Because when you wrap up with mochi, the filling is smaller without the strawberry is easier to handle. Then cut up the top of daifuku in order to stick a strawberry in.
What to serve with the strawberry mochi?
Japanese sweets are very … sweet. They are great served with Japanese tea, such as matcha green tea, matcha latte, green tea, and hojicha. Of course English tea and coffee are good too, but I think Japanese tea is more suited to balance the sweetness.
Tips to make Strawberry mochi
- Choose fresh and smaller strawberries if you are going to make the classic one. If the strawberry is out of season but you still want to make daifuku, you can choose different fruit such as kiwifruit and pineapple pieces.
- If you are going to prepare sweet bean paste from scratch, make it a day before.
- Use a generous amount of potato starch to handle the mochi. It is very sticky. For this recipe, you need about 1/2 cup of potato starch. Once the mochi is shaped, you can brush off excess potato starch.
I hope you enjoy making Strawberry mochi. Please rate and comment below. I’m happy to hear from you, so any comments and questions are appreciated to help improve Chopstick Chronicles. Thank you for reading.
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Strawberry Daifuku 苺大福
Video
Ingredients
- 180 g Shiratamako
- 30 g sugar
- 200 ml water
- Katakuriko potato starch *1
- 180 g sweet white bean paste *2
- 6 medium sized strawberry
Instructions
- wash the strawberries and cut off stems.
- Divide the white bean paste into 30g balls.
- Flatten the white bean paste and place a strawberry (pointy end down) on the center.
- wrap the strawberry with white bean paste and shape it back into a round ball. Set aside
- Place Shiratamako and sugar in a large heat proof bowl and add water.
- Stir and mix well
- Cover with cling wrap and microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the microwave. It should look partly floury and partly should be starting to resemble mocha texture.
- Take the bowl out of the microwave, stir well with a wooden spatula and microwave further for 1 minute. The mochi should look translucent.
- Scatter enough Karakuriko (potato starch) on the rolling mat and empty the mochi from the bowl onto the starch
- Divide the mochi into 6 pieces and roll out flat till each circle is around 10 cm in diameter.
- Place the white bean paste wrapped strawberry (strawberry tip facing down) on the rolled out mochi.
- Gather the edge of mochi wrapping and wrap the strawberry with mochi using well dusted hands.
- Close the mochi ends at the top with your well dusted finger and shape it into a nice round shaped daifuku mochi.
- Repeat the above process for the remaining mochi and strawberries.
I absolutely loved this post on Strawberry Daifuku Mochi! The combination of sweet strawberries and chewy mochi sounds heavenly. I can’t wait to try making them at home using your recipe. Thanks for sharing such a delightful treat!
This Strawberry Daifuku Mochi recipe looks absolutely delicious! I love the combination of sweet strawberries and the chewy mochi. Can’t wait to try making it at home. Thank you for sharing such a delightful treat!
I love the combination of flavors in Strawberry Daifuku Mochi! The way you described the texture and sweetness makes me want to try making it myself. Thank you for sharing such a delightful recipe!
Wow, this Strawberry Daifuku Mochi looks absolutely amazing! I love the idea of combining fresh strawberries with the chewy mochi. I can’t wait to try making this at home. Thank you for sharing the detailed recipe and beautiful photos!
I absolutely love the combination of strawberry and mochi! Your recipe looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to try making Strawberry Daifuku at home. Thank you for sharing such a delightful treat! 🍓✨
This Strawberry Daifuku Mochi recipe looks amazing! I love the combination of sweet strawberries and the chewy mochi. Can’t wait to try making it at home! Thank you for sharing such a delightful treat!
I absolutely love the idea of making Strawberry Daifuku Mochi at home! The step-by-step instructions are so clear, and the photos are gorgeous. I can’t wait to try this recipe for my next get-together! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you 😀
I absolutely love this recipe! Strawberry daifuku mochi is one of my favorite snacks, and your detailed instructions make it seem so approachable. I can’t wait to try making them at home. Thank you for sharing!
Hey Shihoko!
I plan on making this Strawberry Mochi of your way soon!
When I was little, I’d make strawberry Mochi with my family all the time! What was different was we made it Korean style! I plan on trying out Japanese style!
Thanks for the recipe!
Hey Cristy,thank you 😀 you will like it!
Looks like a delicious recipe!
Yes it is 😀 Thank you Lura
This looks so delicious and not that hard to make!I need to definitely make this for my family!!
Your family will love it 😀
Never had them but will have to try they look so good.
Hi Tony they are yummy 😀
This strawbwerry daifiku was a new dish for me and since I love strawberries this was a very delicious surprise, I will be making this for my next dinner party!
The strawberry daifuku are cute and delicious. They will be crowd pleaser 😀
Hello! I have a quesrion. How long would this last in the refrigerator? What would be the best way of storing it is needed?
Hi Bird, I would not recommend to keep Daifuku in refrigerator because it will dry mochi quickly. Ichigo daifuku is very short lived sweets. You need to eat them on the day if possible or latest next day. It will not good idea either to freeze them because of strawberry. If you have to, remove strawberry, wrap with cling wrap individually and put them in a ziplock bag and freeze. Thaw them in room temperature and add fresh strawberry.
wow great and yumm
thank you!
I should like to make the strawberry daifuku but I dont have a microwave I can steam or use oven Also I have enquired around London but am unable to find soy powder for the rain drop jelly sweet hm
Hello Hazel Martin 😀 if you don’t have a microwave, you can steam it of course, takes a little longer though. Steam mochi mixture about 20 minutes. May be you can try online shop? I will add “kinako” in my shop too if you are interested. You can eat rain drop cake without Kinako too 😀 it just add nutty flavour.
Thank you, Shihoko for sharing this recipe! How far in advance can the strawberry daifuku be made? Will it be okay to make it one day ahead and store room temperature for an event the next day? Thanks!
Hi Mia, That will be no problem as long as the room temperature is not too hot 😀