I usually spend my summers in Japan with my children, and that’s when they explore new Japanese foods that are not always available in the SF Bay Area. Warabi Mochi (わらび餅) was their new “discovery” this year and I’ve enjoyed making it at home after we came back.
What is Warabi Mochi?
If you haven’t heard of Warabi Mochi (わらび餅), don’t worry, you’re not alone. There are many types of “mochi” in Japan, and this is just one of them. And unfortunately, this type of mochi is not so well-known outside of Japan. Maybe it’s due to the lack of available ingredients to make them. Warabi Mochi is made of warabi starch or bracken starch. Warabi/bracken is a type of fern, and the starch comes from the rhizomes (underground stem). Unlike typical mochi made from glutinous rice, warabi mochi’s texture is more jelly-like and it’s chewy yet dissolves quickly. Because it is clear and looks refreshing, warabi mochi is often enjoyed in the summertime. What does it taste like? Believe it or not, it has almost no flavors – the only thing you taste is the sweet toasted soybean flour or kinako and the kuromitsu (黒蜜, brown sugar syrup). Sometimes red bean paste is wrapped inside the warabi mochi too.
2 Types of Starch used in Warabi Mochi
Making this dessert is the easy part. The hard part is getting the main ingredient – warabi/bracken starch. Most likely typical Asian grocery stores won’t carry it so you’ll need to check Japanese grocery stores. There are 2 types of warabi/bracken starch.
Hon Warabiko (本わらび粉) – Warabi 100%
This is the pure starch from warabi (but please read the next section for more details). It’s very expensive because it’s difficult to harvest, and only a small amount of the roots (just 5%) becomes starch. It is also very time-consuming to process it into powder. If it’s made from hon warabiko then the price is usually very expensive. Warabi mochi made with 100% warabi/bracken starch is more brownish or blackish color. The package comes in clay-colored pebbles (not powders). If you refrigerate warabi mochi, it gets hard. Therefore, true warabi mochi is stored at room temperature all times and it only lasts for a day.
Warabi Mochiko (わらび餅粉) – Made of other starch
The majority of warabi mochi that you can purchase is made with other starch, not warabi starch. If you look at the ingredients, it should say sweet potato starch (甘藷(サツマイモ)澱粉) or tapioca starch (タピオカ澱粉). Warabi mochiko is more reasonably priced, and you will probably find this type in a Japanese grocery store.
Where To Buy Warabi/Bracken Starch
The Warabi starch I used for this recipe is “warabi mochiko”, the sweet potato starch type. Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
