These purple sweet potato mochi are vegan, gluten-free and incredibly easy to make! The soft and squishy dough only requires 3 ingredients–mochiko rice flour, mashed sweet potato, and almond milk, and they’re filled with a fudgy-sweet white bean paste. Thanks to the sweet potato it’s healthy, too! See my step-by-step guide to making these deliciously purple mochi below
Ingredients Used to Make Microwave Mochi
**I’ve linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂
Purple Sweet Potato – You’ll need mashed purple sweet potatoes for this recipe. You can steam, bake or boil them until soft but here’s the easy method: Wash and wrap a whole sweet potato in a microwave-safe silicone bag (like this one) or in a plastic wrap, then microwave on high for 6-7 minutes (or more depending on the size of the potato). You can make sure it’s cooked by sticking a fork or toothpick into the center. Let them cool somewhat before handling and mash it with a fork.
Glutinous Rice Flour – this goes by many names. You’ll see Glutinous Rice Flour and Mochiko Flour (my favorite brand) in Asian grocery stores, and Sweet White Rice Flour in most other stores. ***Please note that regular white rice flour or brown rice flour is NOT the same thing as glutinous rice flour!!!
Almond milk – you can use other milk of choice, or just water
Cornstarch – for dusting the mochi
What to use for mochi filling
- Sweetened White Bean Paste (a.k.a. Shiro An) – Shiro an is a thick and sweet fudgy paste made from finely mashed white beans, usually large butter beans or cannellini beans. It’s a hugely popular ingredient in East Asia and widely used in Asian confectionary and desserts like mochi, sweetbreads, cookies as well as mooncakes. Unfortunately, it’s not always stocked in most Asian grocery stores. Here’s one brand I found on Amazon (here).
- Alternatively, you can use red bean paste, or mung bean paste. Even ice cream. If you need more ideas, check out my different mochi filling ideas here in this post! –> 10+ Different Mochi Fillings, Recipes & Ideas for More Homemade Mochi
More Sweet Potato Recipes (HERE)
How to Make
Easy Purple Sweet Potato Mochi in the Microwave
STEP 1
In a microwave-safe bowl (preferably glass, like pyrex), mix the sweet rice flour with the mashed purple sweet potato and almond milk (or water).
STEP 2
Microwave this mixture in the microwave for 2 minutes
STEP 3
Once it’s out, use a solid metal spoon to stir the cooked mochi mixture. Return to microwave and heat for additional 1 minute.
You’ll know when it is ready when the dough is slightly translucent
STEP 4
Drop the hot mochi dough onto a surface floured with corn starch. Handle with care, or use vinyl gloves, as the mochi dough will be HOT. Unfortunately, you have to work quickly to shape the mochi before they cool.
STEP 5
Use kitchen shears/ scissors to cut the mochi into 8-10 pieces
STEP 6
Wrap the mochi dough around the prepared filling and dust the finished mochi with more corn starch
STEP 7
ENJOY!
Sweet Potato Mochi Variations
- You can also use regular (orange) sweet potatoes instead of the purple sweet potato. Here’s a link to my other sweet potato mochi recipe! The filling on this recipe is ice cream, but you’re welcome to use sweetened bean paste like below.
Different Mochi Filling Options
If you want to enjoy mochi with a variety of fillings, there are many fun and delicious mochi filling options to choose from. Here are some ideas!
- Shiro-an (sweetened white bean paste) – on Amazon, here, or here’s a Shortcut White Bean Paste Recipe I make when I’ve run out of Shiro An
- Koshi-an (sweetened red bean paste) – on Amazon, here
- Mung Bean paste – sweet and delightfully yellow, homemade mung bean paste is a perfect mochi filling for those who are looking for a healthier bean paste alternative. Here’s my 2-Ingredient mung bean paste recipe here
How to Store Purple Sweet Potato Mochi
- The mochi can be kept covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours. For longer storage, I would freeze the mochi in a plastic freezer bag or an airtight container, then defrost at room temperature when ready to eat.
- The reason I don’t recommend storing them in the fridge is that mochi usually tend to develop a weird waxy, hard texture when stored in the fridge. So eat within a day or freeze for best results.
Final Tips
- Use a solid metal spoon (wooden spoons might break!) to stir the cooked mochi mixture so that the cooked and uncooked parts are evenly mixed
- Use a microwave-safe bowl, preferably glass like pyrex
You Can Find all My Microwave Mochi Recipes (HERE)
Easy Purple Sweet Potato Mochi Recipe
Ingredients
Mochi Ingredients
- 2/3 cup mashed purple sweet potato
- 1 cup mochiko flour, sweet rice or glutinous rice flour about 140 g
- 1/2 cup milk of choice or water
Other Ingredients
- 1/4 cup corn, potato or tapioca starch
- 1/2 package sweetened white bean paste (shiro an)
Instructions
Prepare the filling (optional)
- Prepare mochi filling by rolling about 1-2 Tablespoons of sweetened red bean paste into balls. Set aside. If you would like to eat the mochi plain, you can skip this step.
- Sprinkle the starch onto a clean dish or baking pan. Set aside.
Make the Mochi
- In a microwaveable glass bowl (like Pyrex), mix the mashed purple sweet potato , sweet rice flour and almond milk.
- Microwave the mixture for 2 minutes
- Use a SOLID METAL spoon (wooden spoons might break!) to stir the cooked mochi so that the cooked and uncooked parts are evenly mixed
- Microwave the mochi mixture again, this time for 1 minute. Stir until the dough is slightly glossy and translucent.
- Pour the cooked mochi onto the baking pan sprinkled with starch
- Cut the mochi into 10 pieces using scissors
- Eat as is, or fill with prepared bean paste filling. Enjoy!
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