Sakura Mochi: Japanese Cherry Blossom Mochi Recipe and Tips

Sakura mochi is a traditional Japanese wagashi featuring sweet red bean paste (anko) encased in pink-hued sticky rice and wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom leaf. You can find this celebratory spring-season rice cake in Japanese confectioneries, especially around Hinamatsuri, or Girl’s Day.

There are two variations of sakura mochi: Kanto style and Kansai style. The Kanto style, found throughout Tokyo, is made with shiratamako (glutinous rice flour), and has a soft, stretchy texture like that of daifuku mochi. Kansai-style sakura mochi, found in Osaka, Kyoto, and the surrounding regions, features domyojiko, a coarsely ground flour with still-visible grains of glutinous rice. You can find either flour online or in Japanese specialty markets, and some bags of domyojiko even come pre-dyed. If you want to go old-school, you can steam the glutinous rice yourself and use a pestle or potato masher to grind the grains into a semi-paste.

Sakura mochi has an earthy sweetness from the red bean paste, balanced by the bright saltiness of the pickled sakura leaf. The rice-based mochi wrapper itself is only mildly sweet. Despite its name, “sweet” rice flour is not actually sweet, but most recipes do incorporate a small amount of sugar into the mochi wrapper. Sakura mochi is texturally complex, featuring chewy mochi, smooth bean paste, and papery sakura leaf.

Provided you can secure the ingredients, sakura mochi is easy to make. Here’s what to know when making this festival treat at home.

1. 1. Include the cherry blossom leaves. Pickled sakura leaves can be found in some Asian grocery stores during cherry blossom season, or you can buy them online. To ensure a subtle rather than overwhelming saltiness, soak the cherry leaves in water for ten minutes and pat dry with a paper towel before using.
2. 2. Buy the anko. Anko, a sweet paste made from cooked azuki beans, is one of the main ingredients in sakura mochi and easy to find at Japanese grocery stores. If you plan to prepare the mochi rice cake from scratch, you can save some time by purchasing premade anko.
3. 3. Serve sakura mochi with green tea. Like most Japanese wagashi, sakura mochi is a perfect companion to tea. Try it alongside a cup of green tea, such as nutty, toasty genmaicha or hojicha.
4. 4. Enjoy it fresh. The texture of sakura mochi is best enjoyed fresh at room temperature, as the rice tends to dry out once refrigerated. If you’re not serving immediately, tightly wrap sakura mochi in plastic wrap and refrigerate.