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Mochi ice cream
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mochi ice cream is a Japanese confection made from mochi (pounded sticky rice) with an ice cream filling. Mochi ice cream is now an internationally available food, popular in North America, Europe, and Africa.

Mochi ice cream is a small, round dessert ball consisting of a soft, pounded sticky rice cake (mochi) on the outside and an ice cream filling on the inside. It is then dusted with corn starch. There are many flavors to choose from, but the most popular are green tea (matcha), vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and red bean (azuki).

More recently, a modification of the mochi has been introduced. Instead of using ice cream, gelato has replaced it as the new filling. The term coined for it is “Mochilato”. They are richer in flavor and creamier in texture.These can be found at restaurants with its namesake, located around Southern California.
History

Japanese daifuku and manjū are the predecessors to mochi ice cream, commonly featuring azuki bean filling. Due to the temperature and consistency of mochi and ice cream, both components must be modified in order to achieve the right viscosity that will remain constant regardless of changes in temperature.

An early, predecessor form of the dessert was originally produced by Lotte, as Yukimi Daifuku in 1981. The company first made the product by using a rice starch instead of sticky rice and a type of rice milk instead of real ice cream.

Frances Hashimoto, the former president and CEO of Mikawaya, is credited as the creator and inventor of mochi ice cream and introducing the dessert to the American consumer market. Hashimoto's husband, Joel Friedman, initially conceived the idea of taking small orbs of ice cream and wrapping them in a Japanese traditional mochi rice cake. Frances Hashimoto expanded on her husband's idea, inventing the fusion dessert now popular in the United States and elsewhere. Hashimoto would introduce seven different flavors in her mochi product lines.

Mikawaya began production of mochi ice cream in the United States in 1993, becoming the first American company to manufacture the dessert. Research and development took over a decade to realize the mass production form utilized today, due to the complex interactions of the ingredients.

Mikawaya's mochi ice cream products are now sold in major American supermarkets, including Albertsons, Trader Joe's, Ralphs, and Safeway. Mochi ice cream now accounts for the majority of Mikawaya's sales.
See also[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mochi ice cream.

* Yukimi Daifuku
* Snow skin mooncake