![]() Famous mochi shops like Chikara Mochi in Gardena call some filled mochi daifuku, but Fugetsu-do in Little Tokyo refers to some of their filled mochi flavors as “mochi.” Both have sweet flavored mochi cakes that are unfilled and referred to as “mochi,” although they are more similar to Hawai’i’s chi chi dango. To add to the confusion, I find Japanese Americans in California (where I grew up) have slightly different terminology for mochi as well. Perhaps it’s related to the development of Hawaiian Pidgin? What I CAN tell you is that it leads to a lot of confusion between Japanese people and American mochi lovers. How this change in vocabulary came to be, I have no idea. ![]() Weirdly, mochi that is stuffed with red bean is still called “daifuku” in Hawai’i, but mochi stuffed with strawberry is often called “strawberry mochi,” instead of “strawberry daifuku,” which is what it would be called in Japan. In Hawai’i, sweet filled rice cake is often still called “mochi” in addition to its typical Japanese name, daifuku. in Americaīut another huge reason may be dialectical difference. There’s also an issue of linguistic complexity: these sweet mochi dishes have specific Japanese names that may be difficult to pronounce for non-Japanese speakers, and it’s easier to describe them as being “mochi.” Mochi in Japan vs. So why do so many people think mochi is a dessert? I’m going to guess that the popularity of mochi ice cream in grocery stores in America and the depiction of sweet mochi treats in anime has led to this belief. However, an important distinction to make is that when you add other ingredients to mochi, the resulting dish usually has its own specific name and would no longer be called “mochi.” This is a type of mochi called yakimochi – I would top this with soy sauce to make it savory or with sugar to make it sweet, or both! These toppings and dishes can be either sweet or savory (or a little of both). Mochi in Japan is usually eaten with a variety of toppings, which adds flavor, or used as a component in a larger dish. Therefore, the flavor of plain mochi is actually somewhat bland, and without added sugar, the only sweetness comes from the starch of the rice itself. However, mochi in Japan refers to a rice cake made from pounded rice and no other ingredients. A common misconception in America is that mochi is a sweet dessert. ![]() Although this dish is made WITH mochi, technically this should be called “daifuku” Is Mochi Sweet? It is most famously known as a Japanese food, but many countries use glutinous rice and glutinous rice flour in their cooking. Mochikome is sometimes called “sticky rice” in other cuisines. Mochi is a dense rice cake made entirely from one ingredient: “glutinous rice,” or mochikome. Want to learn more about mochi? Read this post to learn what mochi is, different types of mochi, how to make mochi, and the differences between mochi in Japan and in America.
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