Daifuku

A soft, round Japanese sweet made of mochi wrapped around a sweet filling, most often red bean paste.

Daifuku: Soft round white daifuku rice cakes dusted with starch, one cut in half to show smooth dark red bean paste inside
  • Cakes, cookies, pastries and baked goods
  • Japan

Also called: daifuku mochi, daifukumochi

Daifuku means great luck. Glutinous rice is pounded into mochi, or glutinous rice flour is cooked with water and sugar, then divided into small pieces. Each piece is flattened, wrapped around a ball of filling and pinched closed, then dusted with starch so it does not stick.

Popular versions include strawberry daifuku, with a whole strawberry tucked into the bean paste, and versions with white bean paste, matcha or custard. Daifuku is best eaten the day it is made, because the mochi firms up as it sits.

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Related entries

Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. Okashi using beans (aff), MAFF Japan