Snacks don’t get much more decadent than fried ice cream, but it can be intimidating to make for inexperienced fryers. Luckily we found that using Japanese ice cream snacks coated in gelatinous rice known as mochi instead really simplified things without sacrificing any of the taste.

Naturally putting something frozen into scalding hot oil has a potential to go wrong, but with these frozen snacks there is a protective layer of mochi which gives the fried ice cream a little bit more structural integrity. Mochi ice cream is probably sold by different brands in other countries, but in Japan the go-to ones are the hugely popular Yukimi Daifuku, which just happens to be one of our top five ice creams.

This recipe we’re going to experiment with is taken from the website of Yukimi Diafuku’s distributor Lotte. Their version is called Fried Colorful Yukimi which uses special ingredients to add a splash of color to your fried ice cream. Here’s what we used.

Ingredients
Yukimi Daifuku – 9 mini & 2 regular-sized
Tempura Flour – 120g (4.2oz)
Water – 200mL (6.8oz)
A suitable about of black sesame, cocoa, aonori (seaweed), and kinako (roasted soy bean powder), and frying oil

You may have to do some substituting for flavors available in your own area but any colorful powder with a salty or sweet taste should work out in the end.

And here’s what we did:

1 – Mix the tempura flour and water to make a batter. Preheat the oil to 200℃ (392℉)

2 – Divide the batter into four small bowls. In each bowl mix in one of the black sesame, cocoa, aonori, and kinako.

3 – Make sure that the mochi ice cream balls are firmly frozen and coat them in the batter. Move quickly so they don’t begin to soften.

IMPORTANT: Make sure there are NO air pockets or bubbles between the ice cream and the batter!

4 – Put one coated mochi ice cream into the hot oil for about two seconds. Then, flip over and fry again for about two seconds. Place it on a wire rack and begin frying the next coated mochi ice cream.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT fry too long and DO NOT attempt to fry a second time!

And that’s it! Ta-daa!

As far as actual labor goes, Fried Color Yukimi are quite simple. There are some tricky parts though. First, when adding the coated mochi ice cream to the oil substantial splashing occurred. Make sure you take the necessary precautions before frying to avoid injury or damage.

Also, although the mochi skin helps keep the ice cream intact it can be slippery pick up. Make sure you have the right utensils to retrieve them in the two-second window you are given. You may have noticed that we used 11 Yukimi Daifuku but only eight survivors can be seen in the photos. Some also ended up with bald spots from the retrieval!

That aside, the Fried Colorful Yukimi were really fast and easy to make. Of course, they tasted freaking awesome as well. The hot batter and cold ice cream melted and mingled in the mouth for creamy bliss.

The added flavors gave each fried mochi ice cream a distinctive character as well. Our writer Sachi Ojiya who did the frying said that the black sesame ones were the best followed by the aonori seaweed. The Lotte recipe lists several other batter flavors such as green tea powder.

Your imagination’s the limit, really. So, if you’re looking to take the first step into frying things that ought not be fried, using mochi ice cream is a great start!

Recipe: Lotte (Japanese)
Photos © RocketNews24
Original report by Sachi Ojiya   
[ Read in Japanese ]