Sakura Mochi (桜餅) – Pink Rice Cake in a Cherry Leaf

Sakura mochi are pink rice cakes with red bean paste that you buy in Japan in spring at wagashi shops. Each piece is wrapped in a cherry leaf pickled in salt. The leaf smells of cherry blossom and almond and brings salt to the sweet filling. You can eat it or peel it off before eating.

By Laura Chen · November 4, 2026

1 Stdtotal

8servings

158kcal

JapaneseCuisine ›

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In Japan there are two kinds. The Kanto style from the Tokyo area is called chomeiji: you cook a thin pink crepe from flour and glutinous rice flour and roll it around the bean paste. The Kansai style from Osaka and Kyoto is called domyoji. For that you steam coarsely broken glutinous rice and shape it around the filling, and the grains stay visible. Below you cook the Kansai style; the amounts for the Kanto style are in the notes.

You shape a smooth mochi shell around bean paste in Daifuku Mochi, and with a fresh strawberry in Ichigo Daifuku. You brew pickled cherry blossoms as sakura tea.

Image: AI-generated.

Sakura Mochi (桜餅) – Pink Rice Cake in a Cherry Leaf

Name: Sakura Mochi (桜餅) – Pink Rice Cake in a Cherry Leaf
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 150 g domyoji-ko (coarsely broken glutinous rice); 200 ml water; 30 g sugar; 2 drops red food coloring or 1 tsp beet juice; 240 g koshian (smooth red bean paste); 8 salted cherry leaves (sakura no ha)

Laura Chen

Servings

Prep time

45 minutes

Cook time

15 minutes

Calories

158

Cuisine

Japanese

Ingredients

For the rice:

150 g domyoji-ko (coarsely broken glutinous rice)
200 ml water
30 g sugar
2 drops red food coloring or 1 tsp beet juice

For the filling and wrapper:

240 g koshian (smooth red bean paste)
8 salted cherry leaves (sakura no ha)

Instructions

Put the cherry leaves in cold water for 30 minutes so some of the salt dissolves. Then pat them dry.
Divide the bean paste into 8 portions of 30 g and roll them into balls.
Bring the water, sugar and coloring to a boil in a pot. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the domyoji-ko and let it swell covered for 15 minutes.
Put a damp cloth in a steamer insert, spread the rice on it and steam it for 15 minutes over boiling water.
Put the rice in a bowl and pound it with a wet wooden spoon for 1 minute, until the grains stick together. Divide it into 8 equal portions.
Moisten your hands. Press a portion of rice flat, set a bean ball in the middle and close the rice around it into an oval.
Wrap each oval in a cherry leaf with the smooth side of the leaf facing out. Let the mochi rest for 10 minutes so the rice takes on the aroma of the leaf.

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Sakura Mochi (桜餅) – Pink Rice Cake in a Cherry Leaf

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For the filling and wrapper:

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Sakura Mochi (桜餅) – Pink Rice Cake in a Cherry Leaf

Ingredients

For the rice:

For the filling and wrapper:

Instructions

Reviews

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