mochi

American  

[moh-chee] / ˈmoʊ tʃi /

noun

1. cooked and pounded glutinous rice formed into various shapes and used to make traditional Japanese sweets and other dishes (often used attributively).

   mochi balls;

   mochi ice cream.

2. Also called butter mochi.  a sticky, spongy Hawaiian dessert whose principal ingredients are butter, sugar, eggs, rice flour, and coconut milk.

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Etymology

Origin of mochi

Borrowed into English from Japanese around 1880–90

Explanation

Mochi is a Japanese food that's made from short-grain, sticky rice. Soft, chewy, and stretchy, mochi is commonly used to make sweets, like red bean paste or ice cream inside a mochi covering. Traditionally, mochi is made by cooking rice and then pounding it in a large mortar with a heavy, wooden pestle. The sticky result is cut into small cakes. Today, most mochi is prepared from a rice flour that's cooked with water. As well as desserts, mochi is made into tasty dumplings, toasted and added to savory dishes, and even heated in a special waffle iron to make "moffles."

Example Sentences

Through playing around I landed on my recipe for scrunched mochi crêpes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

Dessert was the sesame mochi xiao long bao, a delectable finish that didn’t disappoint.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2025

Mr Tahara passed out mochi, a Japanese rice cake, decorated with the Dodgers’ logo and free margarita shots to honour Fernando Valenzuela, the Dodgers legend who recently died.

From BBC • Oct. 30, 2024

A block away at Brian Kito’s Fugetsu-Do sweet shop, established by his grandfather in 1903, lines form to the sidewalk for the mochi and manju.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 2, 2024

“I can’t believe you never have mochi before,” Mayumi says.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman