The Ultimate Guide to Kirimochi

Have questions about kirimochi? This kirimochi guide in my “ultimate guide” series will tell you everything you need to know. You’ll learn what kirimochi is, when it’s used, where to find kirimochi, and how to use kirimochi in recipes. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

What is Kirimochi?

Kirimochi is a shelf stable mochi. Like fresh mochi, it is made only with glutinous rice. In other words, there is no added sugar, and it is NOT sweet, as most Americans mistakenly believe mochi to be. It comes in a rectangle shape and wrapped individually in plastic. When you take it out of the package, it feels like a hard brick; you have to cook it to soften it up. Because kirimochi is shelf stable, it lasts for a long time unopened. I make sure to always keep a bag in my pantry.

When Do People Eat Kirimochi?

People eat kirimochi year round, BUT you probably will see it the most around New Years. During the New Year, Japanese people often put up a decoration called kagami mochi. You might have seen this at Japanese stores before – it consists of two mochi on top of each other with a small orange at the very top. Traditionally, the kagami mochi is placed at an altar in the home as an offering for gods. After the New Year, you break the mochi and eat it. Obviously, many people don’t love the idea of eating food that’s been sitting out in the open for days, and these days it’s common to find plastic kagami mochi molds when January gets close. I’ve even seen them at Daiso! The plastic molds usually come with kirimochi inside, so you can still do your kagami biraki (the mochi breaking and eating).

Where Can I Buy Kirimochi?

Around New Year’s Day, our local Japanese market has bags of kirimochi all over the store in special displays. Any other time, though, you can find bags of kirimochi usually in the rice aisle. I’ve also been told that HMart has kirimochi as well.

If you don’t have any Asian markets near you, you can find kirimochi on Amazon. However, it is very expensive online.

Recipes to Use Kirimochi

So what do you cook with kirimochi? TONS of things! Recipes with kirimochi range from very common Japanese snacks and dishes to more wild Asian American mochi fusions. Take a look below for some kirimochi inspiration.

Yakimochi

My favorite way to cook kirimochi is to make yakimochi. See my Ultimate Yakimochi Guide for FIVE different yakimochi toppings and more yakimochi information.

Zenzai

You can cook kirimochi to make yakimochi as a snack eaten by itself, OR you can use the yakimochi as a component in another dish. Zenzai is a Japanese red bean soup that is topped with yakimochi.

Chikara Udon

Another way to use yakimochi is to use it as a topping for udon in chikara udon! Rice cake on top of chewy noodles is kind of heavy for me, so I don’t eat it that often.

Oden

Mochi is a common ingredient in the fishcake hotpot known as Oden. Kirimochi gets wrapped in an age pouch and boiled with the other ingredients. But to be honest, I usually buy these prepackaged instead of making them myself.

Ozoni

If you don’t have access to fresh mochi on New Year’s Day, you can use kirimochi for your ozoni soup.

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Grilled Mochi Skewers

I mentioned this in my Ultimate Yakimochi post, but I love to savory mochi skewers. This is definitely getting into the Asian American side of kirimochi. I slice mine thin, microwave them, then skewer them along with pork belly and shishito peppers.

Arare

Arare is the name for Japanese rice crackers. If you cut your kirimochi into super small bite size pieces and then bake or air fry them, they will puff up into crunchy little rice puffs! Season these puffs, and you’ve got arare! I’ve got a recipe currently in development.

Mochi Chips?

I haven’t done this myself, but I saw a viral video of someone shaving kirimochi into super thin slices and then cooking them until they’re super crispy and curly. Maybe mochi nachos should be on my “future recipes” list?

That’s all I have for this Ultimate Guide, but I’m sure there are many other ways to use kirimochi. Did I miss one of your favorite kirimochi recipes? Let me know in the comments below!