I first fell in love with mochi in college. At Trader Joe’s, a 10 minute drive away, there was an addictive mochi ice cream that brought me back week after week. I loved the mind-tingling coldness of each bite. I loved the sweet glutinous rice that stuck to my teeth and forced me to run for floss afterward. I even sucked up the cost of $3.99 for a box of 4 tiny pieces, which put a dent in which my minimum wage earnings as a library circ assistant. When I told my Hawaiian friend Elaine about my new obsession, she immediately said, “I’ll teach you how to make real mochi.”
Hawaiian butter mochi, most likely adapted from Filipino bibingka, is the sinful cousin of the dryer, perfectly-shaped Japanese mochi. The following Saturday, Elaine brought over with a box of mochiko, sweet rice flour. (That she hauled boxes of special mochi flour from Hawaii to Boston for school didn’t seem strange at the 
time.) We spent the day making batch upon batch of the most decadent mochi I had ever tasted. It had a sheen that screamed heart attack, but a taste that dared you to stop after one piece.
I haven’t found butter mochi in Shanghai yet, but the Japanese-owned Mochi Sweets has outlets all around town. They’re sold cold, and the salesgirls recommend you leave them at room temperature for 15 minutes before eating. So far, the green tea, peach, and dark chocolate are my favoritess, but the shops also have some interesting picks: sakura cherry blossom, pumpkin, and blueberry. And the pumpkin flavor always seems to be discounted for 3 rmb.
Mochi Sweets
Basement, Raffles City
258 Xizang Zhonglu, near Fuzhou Lu
(other locations around Shanghai)
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I am definitely in the “luurve” with mochi – here in Italy I found < <1>> special grocery store that sells them at €1.50 each! I usually buy a few and eat them as frozen as I can stand them. So good!
I LOVE the stuff at TJ’s (here’s proof)…doesn’t it come with 6 in a package though? I actually first came across mochi ice cream at a fish restaurant where they would serve it for dessert. Finally TJs started carrying the stuff and I was in heaven.
I recently tried dry mochi from an Asian grocery store. I didn’t like it nearly as much as the ice cream.
I had tasted a very original taste of mochi in Hualien, Taiwan last year. If you have any chance to go there, should give it a try!
i also like mochi a lot. i just wish to try mochi cream from japan. just so lovely to see all the mochi line up in their store.
I love mochi! Any chance you’d share your friends recipe?
I’m coming out of long time lurking mode to second Jessica’s request for the recipe. Would love to see it.
Oh, you can’t mention something like butter mochi and then not provide the recipe :-) It sounds sinfully good.
I’ve been buying mochi for a long time and finally broke down to make red bean mochi last year. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be and it turned out delicious. I haven’t gotten around to making ice cream mochi yet but that’s next on my list.
You obviously already know how to make DIY mochi, but I thought you’d be interested in this daifuku recipe I saw recently.
We got addicted to mochi in Japan. Since then I have to restrain Kim from buying too much in the massive Chinese supermarket down the road: it’s about $10 for 6!
I think there is something wrong with how your blog is loading on Macs. I tried both Firefox and Mozilla and whenever I click on “read more” or the entry title it leads me to a blank page instead of uploading the entry in full. This happened with the Lan Fong Yuen entry and the Chinese steamed fish entry. There may also be others. Please look into it and get it checked out so I can try some of your recipes! Thanks.
Hillary – It’s possible there were 6, and I scarfed them down so fast I lied to myself that there were only 4.
Jessica – The last time I made it was…over 7 years ago. I’ll have to track down my friend and re-ask for the recipe. :)
Allen – Mochi that was entirely red-bean-flavored, or mochi with a red bean filling? If you get around to making ice cream mochi let me know how it goes!
Sorry to hear you’re having problems loading pages. I work on a Mac with Firefox and don’t seem to be having problems, but I’ll check out the pages again.
The best mochi ice cream are from Bubbies in Honolulu. Fortunately, they can be found in Whole Foods or ordered online.
Best mochi at Two Ladies in Hilo. Mochi with peanut butter, with chocolate brownies, and all sorts.
Where can one find mailorder mochi on line in USA -
This may be a little late, but The mochi ice cream at Costco made by Coldmountain (?) is excellent! The mochi stays thick and soft even when frozen! It’s amazing, although I’m a little scared to know how they acheive that. For around 10 US dollars you get 18 pieces of 3 yummy flavors – mango, green tea, and strawberry. I think I’ve found an affordable cure for my cravings.
Costco sells mochi ice cream??? Makes me wish I had a membership now…
avegancalledbacon- thanks so much for
daifuku recipe diy i will try to make
it on this week and will let you know
the result. I’m very crazy on daifuku
so much after tasted it in taiwan, thank
you again for shared.