Imomochi Potato Cakes | Hokkaido
Hokkaido imomochi are pan-grilled cakes made by mashing cooked potatoes, mixing in potato starch, and shaping the dough into rounds or ovals. They are browned outside and chewy within, with...
At a glance
| Name | Imomochi Potato Cakes | Hokkaido (Imomochi) |
|---|---|
| Prefecture | Hokkaido |
| Region | Hokkaido & Tohoku |
| Type | Pan-grilled potato cakes |
What is it?
Hokkaido imomochi are pan-grilled cakes made by mashing cooked potatoes, mixing in potato starch, and shaping the dough into rounds or ovals. They are browned outside and chewy within, with a simple potato flavor.
They do not use mochi rice. Also called imo dango in parts of Hokkaido, they are eaten as a snack with sweet soy glaze or butter, filled with cheese, or added as dumplings to soup.
History and local context
The dish is associated with Hokkaido's settlement era, when rice farming was limited and abundant potatoes were used in place of rice cakes. It also provided practical food during wartime and postwar shortages.
Other Japanese regions have foods called imomochi, but the tuber and method differ. The Hokkaido form is based on potato and potato starch.
For chilled or frozen imomochi, choose a microwave, pan-cooking or deep-frying product to suit the equipment you have. Check the package for storage temperature, whether to cook from frozen, the number of pieces and any filling.
Chuka Sapporo’s 60 g imomochi is cooked from frozen in an oiled pan over low heat for 3–4 minutes on each side, or deep-fried at 170°C for 6 minutes. Store it at −18°C or below. Follow the storage and cooking instructions on the product you buy.
Fukuyama Brewing’s recipe includes wheat flour; Ajinomoto’s includes milk and butter. Cheese fillings and sauces also change the ingredients. If you have food allergies, check the dough, filling and sauce in the recipe or product label.
How to enjoy it
Serve freshly browned cakes with sweet soy glaze or a little butter. Split a cheese-filled cake in half and let the hot cheese cool before eating.
Imomochi is also eaten as dumplings in soup. For a purchased product, check the maker’s cooking instructions to see whether it can be used in soup.
ALIC’s potato-and-starch recipe uses 4 potatoes and 80 g potato starch. Fukuyama Brewing’s version adds wheat flour: 3 potatoes, about 450 g, with 2 tablespoons potato starch and 1 tablespoon wheat flour. Choose a recipe to suit the ingredients you have.
Ajinomoto’s Japanese-style recipe with milk and sesame serves two and makes six discs. Prepare 2 Kita-akari potatoes, 3½ tablespoons potato starch, 2 tablespoons milk, 1½ tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon toasted black sesame, ½ teaspoon Hondashi, ⅓ teaspoon light soy sauce and 5 g butter.
For the Ajinomoto recipe, boil the potatoes with their skins on until cooked, peel carefully while hot and mash smoothly. Mix in the starch, milk, sugar, sesame, Hondashi and soy sauce, then shape six discs. Heat the butter in a pan, cook over low heat for 4–5 minutes, turn, cover and cook over low heat for another 4–5 minutes. Switch off the heat and let the cakes rest until springy.
For a wheat-flour dough with thickened sweet soy sauce, follow Fukuyama Brewing’s recipe. Let the mashed potatoes cool slightly, adjust the starch to their moisture, mix until no dry flour remains and shape discs about 1 cm thick. The linked recipe gives the sauce quantities and pan-cooking method.
Sources and further reading
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