I first tried warabi Mochi when I visited Osaka castle. There was a food stall in the grounds selling matcha warabi mochi and it was displayed in a mountain with so much matcha I could smell it well away from the stall. ( if you have ever visited Uji you will know what I’m talking about).

When I managed to find some Mochi-Ko warabi Mochi powder in a store in London ( natural natural ) I knew I had to get it and try making it. It turned out just how I remembered it being in Japan ! This chewy jelly like Japanese dessert is a firm summer favourite, popular in the Kansai region and in Okinawa. It took me straight back to summer time in Japan. It’s funny how food, smells and sounds can take you back to a memory. I decided to make it the traditional way using kinako soybean flour and a kuromitsu (sugar syrup) to pour over.
Warabi Mochi is made from bracken starch. The Mochi-Ko I bought was a mixture of this and potato starch. All you need is the Mochi-ko, kinako, sugar, water and some kind of sugar syrup to drizzle over. I made mine from okinawan sugar and water but you could use molasses or brown sugar with water heated to thicken.

First gather your ingredients

3/4 cup of Mochi-Ko

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

250ml of water

and kinako soybean flour

You will need molasses or dark brown sugar to make a kuromitsu for pouring ( I suggest making this first so you can chill it in the fridge. Just add sugar and water to a pan heat until it thickens  and chill.

Dust a baking sheet with kinako , I also find that it’s a good idea to grind the warabi-ko into a finer powder.
Add the warabi-ko to a pan and add the sugar and water and give it a stir to combine. Turn up the heat and keep stirring until it starts to turn thicker and then turn down the heat a little. Keep stirring quite vigorously almost beating it until the mixture becomes more translucent. Keep doing this for at least five minutes then turn it out onto your kinako flour and dust more flour on the top. Place this in the fridge for ten minutes but do not leave it in there.

Take your Mochi out of the fridge and cut into squares

You can serve it straight away or you can keep it for up to two days in a sealed container at room temperature. When you want to serve you can chill it for ten minutes if you wish.
Serve with kuromitsu.