AI-generated image
Warabimochi
わらび餅 (warabimochi): wobbly, cool bracken-starch jelly rolled in toasted soybean flour with dark sugar syrup
Warabimochi is Kyoto's summer sweet. Made from the starch of bracken fern roots, it is not really mochi at all but a clear, wobbly jelly that melts on the tongue, and on hot afternoons teahouses around Gion and Arashiyama serve it chilled on ice. It is dusted with kinako, a nutty roasted soybean flour, and finished with kuromitsu, a dark syrup of Okinawan brown sugar. Real warabi starch is costly and greyish-brown, so most home cooks buy warabimochi-ko, a blend with sweet potato or tapioca starch, which gives a clearer jelly. Chef's tip: keep stirring hard once it turns clear. Two more minutes of beating over the heat is what makes it springy rather than gluey.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the jelly
- 1 ¾ oz warabi starch or warabimochi-koor tapioca starch
- 1 ⅜ oz sugar
- 1 cup water
For the kuromitsu syrup
- 3 ½ tbsp water
To coat
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Make the syrup: simmer 1 ¾ oz kokuto (Okinawan brown sugar) or dark muscovado and 3 ½ tbsp water in a small pan over low heat for 5 minutes until slightly thickened, like maple syrup. Cool. It thickens more as it cools.
5 minStep 2: Mix 4 tbsp kinako (roasted soybean flour), 1 tbsp sugar and 1 pinch salt. Spread half on a tray or plate.
Step 3: In a non-stick pan, whisk 1 ¾ oz warabi starch or warabimochi-ko, 1 ⅜ oz sugar and 1 cup water until there are no lumps. Set over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spatula.
2 minStep 4: After 3–4 minutes, cloudy lumps appear and it quickly turns into a thick, sticky mass. Lower the heat and keep beating it hard against the side of the pan for 2–3 minutes more until the whole mass is clear and very elastic.
6 minStep 5: Common mistake: stopping as soon as it thickens. White, cloudy patches mean raw starch, which tastes floury and doesn't wobble. Keep going until it's glassy all through.
Step 6: Scrape the hot jelly onto the kinako, dust the top with more kinako and let it cool for 10 minutes. Cut into 2 cm pieces with a wet knife or spatula and toss in the rest of the kinako.
10 minStep 7: Chill for 20–30 minutes at most, then serve in small bowls with 1 ¾ oz kokuto (Okinawan brown sugar) or dark muscovado syrup drizzled over. Eat the same day; it turns white and hard if left in the fridge too long.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 2 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does warabimochi take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Kartoshka cake
Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.
Russian
Undu walalu
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
Baklava
The famous layered pastry: crisp sheets of buttered fillo sandwich a filling of almonds, pistachios and cashews spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. After baking, the hot baklava is soaked in a syrup of sugar, honey, lemon, rose and cardamom and decorated with almond and pistachio flakes. Cut into 40 diamonds; serve with fresh cream or ice cream.