Yomogi (Japanese mugwort) is a wild spring herb packed with wonderful benefits.
It’s used in moxa for moxibustion therapy, in yomogi steam treatments, and in Japan, it’s well known as the key ingredient in yomogi mochi (also called kusa mochi).
Yomogi warms the body from the inside and helps promote the flow of qi and blood. It’s a helpful plant for easing cold sensitivity, menstrual pain, and irregular periods caused by cold in the body.

When I was a child visiting my grandparents, my grandmother would make yomogi mochi filled with sweet red bean paste (tsubu-an). We’d roast the mochi on top of an old-fashioned heater until golden brown and enjoy them together.
Now, wild yomogi plants grow in our garden, and every spring, we pick the young leaves and make yomogi mochi—just like she used to.

You can also make it using dried yomogi leaves, so if you get the chance, definitely give it a try!

Ingredients (6 pieces)

2 Go (2 rice cooker cups, 300 g) Uncooked Mochigome(Japanese glutinous rice)
90 g Yomogi leaves (Japanese mugwortleaves)
* I use fresh yomogi leaves.
1 tsp Baking soda
1 pinch salt
230 ml Cold water 

- Anko (Sweet adzuki bean paste) ingredients - 
200g Adzuki beans 
200g Sugar (Cane Sugar recommended)
8 pinches salt
* Sweet adzuki bean paste is available at Japanese / Asian supermarkets. You can use it instead of making it from scratch.

Method

Step 1 - Make Anko  - Rinse the adzuki beans, place them in a pot, add 4 to 5 times the amount of water, and bring to a boil. Once it boils, discard the water.
Step 2 - Repeat this process twice.
Step 3 - Add the adzuki beans and 4 times the amount of water to the pot, cover, and simmer over low heat for 60 minutes.
Step 4 - Add the sugar and salt, then simmer over low heat, constantly stirring until the liquid has evaporated. Set aside until it cools down.
Step 5 - Prepare yomogi leaves - Wash the yomogi leaves and boil 1-2L of water. Once it comes to a boil, add the baking soda.
Step 6 - Boil the yomogi leaves for 1-2 minutes, then drain and soak them in cold water for 1 minute. 
Step 7 - Drain and squeeze the water out.
Step 8 - Cook mochi rice (We use a rice cooker) - Wash the glutinous rice and soak in cold water for an hour, then drain and leave it for 30 minutes.
Step 9 - Put the rice in a rice cooker, add the salt and cold water. Gently mix and then cook. 
Step 10 - Once the rice is cooked, combine the rice and yomogi leaves. Pound with a mortar and pestle until the texture is as soft as your earlobes.
Step 11 - Divide the dough into 6 pieces, wet your hands, and flatten each piece. Place the anko (sweet adzuki bean paste) in the center, and wrap it around, then shape into a ball. Bon appétit!