Homemade Rice Cakes (Mochi & Tteok) from Scratch
Every time you try to make rice cakes at home, the dough comes out grainy, stiff, or so sticky it glues itself to everything — and you end up convinced this is the kind of thing you just have to buy. But the problem isn’t the recipe. It’s one step most tutorials skip entirely.
This recipe gives you genuinely chewy, smooth rice cakes using 3 ingredients and a stand mixer — no special equipment, no trip to a specialty store. The method works for both mochi-style rounds and tteok cylinders for tteokbokki. I’ve tested it multiple times to get the texture right, and the fix is simpler than you’d expect.
Pro Tip
The mistake almost everyone makes: skipping the soak, or cutting it short. Steaming rice that hasn’t soaked long enough means the starch granules never fully hydrate — your mixer will knead for 40 minutes and still produce a dough with gritty bits that won’t smooth out. Soak your short-grain rice in cold water for a minimum of 4 hours (overnight is better). After soaking, a grain should crush between your fingers with almost no resistance — that’s your go/no-go signal before you even turn on the steamer.
Use short-grain white rice or glutinous (sweet) rice — both work, glutinous gives a bouncier result. Find them in the Asian foods aisle at most large supermarkets, or at any Asian grocery store. Do not substitute long-grain, basmati, or brown rice: the starch structure is wrong and the dough won’t bind. Swap the butter for the same amount of neutral vegetable oil to keep the recipe fully plant-based.
Homemade Rice Cakes (Mochi & Tteok) from Scratch
4
servings15
minutes40
minutes310
kcal4
hours10
minutes5
hours5
minutesIngredients
2 cups (400g) short-grain white rice or glutinous rice
1/2 cup (120ml) cold water (plus more for soaking)
1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or neutral vegetable oil
1 tsp fine salt (optional)
rice flour or cornstarch, for dusting
Directions
- Rinse and soak. Rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs mostly clear, then cover with fresh cold water and soak for at least 4 hours — overnight in the fridge is ideal. After soaking, pinch a grain between your fingers: it should crush with almost no pressure. If it resists, give it another hour.
- Steam the rice. Drain the soaked rice, transfer it to a heatproof bowl, add the 1/2 cup (120ml) of water, and steam over boiling water for 40 minutes on medium-high heat. The rice is ready when every grain looks completely translucent and the bowl smells faintly sweet and starchy — not raw or chalky.
- Add butter, start kneading. Transfer the hot steamed rice to your stand mixer bowl with the dough hook, add the butter, and knead on medium speed. Knead in 10-minute intervals, resting the mixer for 15 minutes between each session — a warm motor damages the machine and stalls the dough.
- Check the texture. After 30–40 minutes total kneading time, the dough should be smooth, glossy, and pull away from the bowl sides in one piece. Press your finger into the surface: it should spring back slowly, like an earlobe. If it tears, knead for another 10 minutes.
- Shape and cool. Dust your work surface generously with rice flour, turn out the dough, and shape into a log roughly 1 inch (2.5cm) in diameter. Slice into 2-inch (5cm) pieces for tteok, or leave as rounds for mochi. If the dough sticks badly, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour — cold dough is dramatically easier to handle.
Variations
For yaki mochi (grilled rice cakes): score a shallow cross on each flat side without cutting through, then grill in a dry nonstick pan for 8 minutes until puffed and golden, and drizzle with a mix of soy sauce and a pinch of sugar. For tteokbokki-ready cylinders: toss the cut pieces in 1 tbsp of cooking oil and air-fry at 355°F (180°C) for 20 minutes until the outside is lightly crisp — this stops them from dissolving in the sauce.
Serving Suggestions
Serve mochi-style cakes alongside a small bowl of sweetened red bean paste for dipping — the contrast between the plain chew and the sweet filling is the whole point. For tteok cylinders, a simple tteokbokki sauce (gochujang, soy sauce, a little sugar) is the classic move. A bowl of clear dashi broth with a few sliced rice cakes and spring onions makes a clean, satisfying weeknight soup.
FAQ
Can I make these without a stand mixer?
Yes, but it takes commitment. Use a mortar and pestle and pound the steamed rice for 45–60 minutes until no grain texture remains. Alternatively, blend raw soaked rice with water into a slurry and steam that directly — the texture is slightly different but the result is still chewy and smooth.
Why is my dough still sticky after kneading?
Warm dough is always sticky — that’s normal, not a failure. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Once fully chilled, the surface firms up and becomes much easier to handle and cut.
Can I freeze homemade rice cakes?
Absolutely. Dust the pieces well with rice flour to prevent sticking, spread them on a tray to freeze individually, then transfer to a zip-lock bag. They keep for up to 2 months. The real question is whether frozen homemade tteok holds up in a full tteokbokki sauce the same way store-bought does — the answer might surprise you.
