After a satisfying meal at our Seattle Japanese restaurant, you can’t beat mochi ice cream for an equally satisfying Japanese dessert. But what is mochi? These small, colorful lumps may not resemble the ice cream that you are used to, but this is because the ice cream portion is encased within a ball of Japanese-style sweet rice cake. This cake, the “mochi” part of mochi ice cream, is a delicious part of Japanese tradition.

Mochi comes in many shapes, colors, and flavors. It goes into many Japanese sweets, and is sometimes even cooked in a soup. Though it is popular year-round, the most important time for mochi is during the lunar New Year celebration.

Mochi was first filled with western-style ice cream back in 1981, when the Korean company Lotte began to sell it as Yukimi Daifuku. It first made its appearance in the United states twelve years later in 1993, and has been growing in popularity ever since. Try some today at I Love Sushi!