I've tried several mochi recipes (steaming, cooking in balls in boiling water) to make for a Girl Scout event. Of the three recipes I've tried, I found this one is the best. I lived in Japan for a year and found that this recipe has a great, soft texture. I added two drops of red food coloring (which looks like traditional Japanese mochi). You could also add two drops of green food coloring as well. Traditional Japanese mochi is usually pink, green and white. I LOVED the powder that is used in this mochi recipe. I do not like using plain cornstarch (has a chalky feel), so the addition of sugar and salt made it perfect! I can say that if it is cooked too long you will get hard corners (I'd use the shortest cooking time). I used an 8 x 8 glass baking dish. If you don't have a plastic knife, just dip your knife in the powder before each cut. I found that this worked well. Also, mochi is kept at room temperature. So, do not put in the refrigerator, or else you will get hard mochi. Good luck!

When I first started making it, it was a pasty liquid so I thought I might have done something wrong, but alas! it's supposed to be like that! it will harden as it cooks, so I just thought I would add that if anyone else had the same doubts I did. I only used 1/4 cup splenda(1/4 cup=1/2cup sugar) and it tasted... not bland, but not sweet. However, when i rolled it in coconut it tasted absolutely delicious. I omitted the potato starch, just because I dont like the dry taste it gives it. I tried to make mochi ice cream out of this, but my mochi pieces were too thick, so to those who also want to try this or fill it with anything (including adzuki bean) i would recommend making two batches but with the same amount of ingredients, that way it's thinner and easier to roll and fill.

it was pretty good, but i found that halving the sugar in the mochi itself and not putting any in the starch was better. i didn't have potato starch, so i used tapioca starch instead.

this was tasty and the texture was just like in the stores but, beware your cooking times. the first batch i made ended up with a hard top layer because i micro-waved it for too long. to add some flavor i added a couple of drops of coconut extract and that was yummy. next time i think i'll roll them in shredded coconut or add red bean ;) ******** i tried this a second time and got perfect results. what did i do better? i cut the microwave time down to 6 minutes, i substituted a couple of drops vegetable oil for the vinegar and i rolled the finished mochi in powdered sugar instead of starch. perfecto!

This worked really well. I didn't have potato starch so I mixed 1 cup shredded coconut w/ 1/8 cup sugar and a pinch of salt. I also added green food coloring.

This was alwsome! i didn't even know you could make this with the microwave. ^^ To make it even better, i added less sugar and coated it with coconut flakes.

So easy and so excellent! I also enjoysed the mochi with toasted sesame seeds. Next time I will try read bean paste. Mmmmmm.

My result was not quite as firm as other Mochi I've had, I cooked it 9 minutes. However, it tasted just the same, and it sure was easier than the other Mochi recipes out there!

I might have done it wrong, but unless you want to have a very sticky mess while rolling, then I suggest coating the surface you're working on and your hands thoroughly with the starch substance...also, just the plain mochi tastes kind of bad from the starch. I reccommend putting something in it. Putting a small bit of ice cream and then rolling and freezing for about 20 minutes or longer is good...

This is really good, as good as the store bought chinese mochi. I don't eat a lot of sweet, so I reduced so sugar, still too sweet for me. I added some mugwort herb and red beans paste as the filling. My colleague loved it, and ask for the recipe. Next time I am going to add some green tea powder and roll them in sesamae seed instead of starch and sugar.