Now that we've got our ice cream makers churning away this month, we're looking for fun ways to play with the results. Mochi ice cream balls have popped up everywhere from swanky restaurant dessert menus to the freezer case at Trader Joe's.
But why not make a batch of your own?
If you've never encountered a mochi ice cream ball, you may be familiar with the smaller mochi cubes served as toppings at hip yogurt joints like Pinkberry and others like it (pictured above at Berry Chill in Chicago).
Mochi is essentially a Japanese-style rice cake made from mochiko, a glutinous rice flour (found in Asian markets), and can be made savory or sweet. Similar rice cakes can be found in Chinese (nian gao) and Filipino (palitao) cuisines.
In small bites, sweet mochi tastes like a hybrid of marshmallow and gummi bear. Larger pieces can be used to wrap around balls of ice cream to create a sweet, hand-held treat.
We think the Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream mentioned yesterday would be the perfect filling for a sweet mochi ball. Why not try it with one of these recipes:
Related: DIY Magic Shell Ice Cream Sauce
(images: Schmish, licensed under Creative Commons, and Joanna Miller)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Mochi ice cream is very popular in Hawaii. A local favorite is Bubbie's, which serves a wonderful variety of flavored mochi icec ream. My favorite is french toast, but I also like their Tiramisu.
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god, i miss bubbies mochi so much!
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Righteous! We love eating mochi from the Asian grocery downtown, but it requires some foresight (a cooler full of ice) to get it home. You can bet I'll make this.
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