Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made from glutinous, or sticky, rice. Traditionally the steamed rice is pounded until smooth; in food factories it is usually made from glutinous rice flour mixed with water and sugar, then steamed or cooked. The starch in glutinous rice is almost entirely amylopectin, which gives mochi its soft, stretchy, chewy texture.
For ice cream, the dough is typically blended with sugar syrups or starches so that it stays soft and pliable even when frozen. A thin sheet is then wrapped around a scoop of ice cream, as in Vanilla and Milk Flavoured Ice Cream in Chewy Mochi from Wall’s.
Despite its name, glutinous rice contains no gluten; the word refers to its glue-like stickiness. Other ingredients in a mochi layer vary, so the full label tells you what else it contains.
