Matcha Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream
This matcha green tea mochi ice cream is the perfect combination of chewy mochi skin and creamy, soft matcha ice cream. With detailed instructions, get a taste of Japan's finest right in your kitchen!
Servings: 8 mochi
Calories: 226kcal
Equipment
- ice cream scoop
- large bowl
- sieve (for dusting)
- Rolling Pin
- pastry brush (optional, but recommended)
- plastic cling wrap
Ingredients
- 1 pint (16 oz or 473ml) green tea ice cream (or vanilla ice cream + 2 Tablespoons matcha powder); get your favorite vegan ice cream if you're vegan!
- 1 cup glutinous rice flour
- 2 teaspoons matcha powder
- 3 Tablespoons (45 grams) sugar
- 1 cup water
- corn starch for dusting
Instructions
Part 1 - Preparations
- Transfer half of your vanilla ice cream onto another large container. Add half of the matcha powder to each container and mix them evenly. You might need to slightly thaw the ice cream to make it easier to mix. However, be careful that you do not fully thaw the ice cream until it turns into liquid to keep its texture.
- Scoop out 9 ice cream balls onto any flat container. When scooping, flat out the excess ice cream using a utensil knife so you get a flat bottom.TIP: If your ice cream is a bit too soft now, freeze them first before scooping them into balls. Freezing will help them keep their shape well!
- Freeze your ice cream balls for at least 2 hours (although overnight is best) so that they are frozen solid.
Part 2 - Making the mochi dough
- Combine the glutinous rice flour, matcha powder, sugar, and water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Using a silicone spatula, mix until there are no more clumps.
- Cover the bowl with a large plate or plastic wrap. Then microwave for 2 minutes at 750W.
- After microwaving, stir the mixture for about 10 seconds. They don't have to be fully mixed, as long as they're roughly mixed.
- Microwave again for 30 seconds, keeping it covered.
- If the mixture remains slightly watery, microwave in 10-second intervals until it reaches the desired consistency.
Part 3 - Cutting out the mochi dough
- Cover any large cutting board, baking sheet, or any flat surface with parchment paper. Then using a sieve, sprinkle cornstarch generously.
- Place the dough onto the dusted surface. Dust again with more cornstarch using a sieve, to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin.
- Using a rolling pin, shape the dough into a large rectangle.
- Use a small bowl to cut the dough into circles. Be sure to cut the circles as close as possible to each other. You might need to sprinkle the tip of your cookie cutter/bowl with some corn starch to prevent it from sticking.
- If you have a lot of dough left, you can repeat the rolling and cutting to get more mochi dough circles.
- Once you've used up all the mochi to get the mochi circles, stack each mochi skin on top of a plastic wrapper. Then repeat with the other mochi circles, stacking one plastic foil + mochi layer on top of another. Remember to sprinkle enough corn starch on top of each mochi circle to prevent sticking.
- Refrigerate for about 15 until they cool down.This step is important since the ice cream melts easily so we want to keep our mochi skin cold.
Part 4 - Wrapping Time!
- Once the mochi skin is cold, take one cling wrap + mochi skin out. Brush off the extra corn starch so your mochi doesn't taste too starchy.
- Using a flat spoon, put 1 scoop of matcha ice cream in the middle of the mochi dough, with the round side of the ice cream facing the bottom of the plate. Leave the rest of the ice cream in the freezer so they don't melt.
- Wrap the mochi by first folding the top and bottom of the mochi dough into the middle of the ice cream. Repeat with the left and right sides.
- Then pull up the corners of the plastic wrap to the center and twist to seal the ball. Immediately put it back to the freezer.
- Repeat the two steps above, making one mochi ball at a time while leaving the rest in the freezer.
- Freeze the mochi further for at least 1 hour before serving, or overnight for the best texture.
Notes
Top Tips
- Be generous when dusting with corn starch.
- You can always shake off the excess if you put too much, while on the other hand, you might risk breaking your mochi skin if you put too little as it might stick to the parchment paper.
- Do NOT skip adding sugar. I try my best to not add sugar, in fact, this is my only recipe that includes refined sugar. But without sugar, your mochi dough will be very hard when frozen.
- Make sure that your plastic cling wrap is large enough. The shortest side should be at least twice as long as your mochi dough circles.
- You can customize the flavor by swapping out the matcha powder with chocolate powder, or by using another ice cream flavor!
- Store them in the freezer for up to 1 month. The longer it sits in the fridge, the more time you would need to let it thaw a little bit first before it's too cold for you to eat.