The Japanese-American brand Mikawaya introduced bite-sized mochi ice cream to the U.S. mainstream market in the 1990s.
Mochi ice cream consists of a small ball of ice cream wrapped in a thin layer of soft, pounded glutinous rice dough. Mikawaya, a Los Angeles confectionery with Japanese roots, is widely credited with popularizing the product in the United States during the 1990s.
The dessert combines two textures: a cold, creamy center and a chewy outer layer. Rice flour, usually mochiko or another glutinous-rice flour, is cooked with sugar and water to make the wrapper. The wrapper is cooled before being formed around portions of ice cream.
Mochi ice cream is sometimes confused with traditional mochi sweets containing bean paste. The defining feature of mochi ice cream is the frozen dairy or non-dairy center, not merely the presence of rice dough.