Ingredient: Water

Chemical name of ingredient: Oxidane
Chemical formula of ingredient: H2O
Health effects:

• Flushes out toxins from your body
• Improves skin complexion, making it appear more healthy
• Helps kidneys function better
• Zero calories!

Made from: Oxygen and Hydrogen bond together to create individual water molecules. Both oxygen and hydrogen are found on the planet.
Physical properties: 

• Clear liquid
• Odorless
• Tasteless 
• Creates a bluish color in large quantities

Purpose: The purpose of including water in your Mochi recipe is important because without water, you wouldn't be able to start preparing it in the first place. Water is mixed with the rice flour in order to make your rice dough, which is one of the main things needed when making Mochi ice cream (second main thing is the ice cream!) 

Ingredient: Sugar

Chemical name of ingredient: Sucrose
Chemical formula of ingredient: C12H22O11
Health effect:

• Raises cholesterol & gives heart disease. 
• Lot's of calories with no essential nutrients. 
• Increases risk of becoming overweight & obese. 
• Doesn't affect you if too much isn't consumed. 

Made from: Sugar is derived from sugarcane or sugar beet, which are plants. To make sugar from beets, the beets are sliced and placed in hot water, which produces a sugary juice. This juice then goes through several filtration, purification and concentration stages to separate the sugars. The juice is also boiled so that it thickens and more crystals are developed. The syrupy juice is sent through a centrifuge to separate the crystals. The crystal are then granulated. With sugarcane, the stalks are crushed, and water and lime are added to produce juice. The juice is boiled until the sugar crystallizes. The crystals are put into a centrifuge, which separates the syrup. The sugar then goes through the refining process, which involves washing, filtration and other purification methods to produce white sugar crystals.

Physical Properties: 

• Solid/hard small crystals
• Odorless
• Sweet

Chemical Properties:

• Melts when heated.
• Turns brown when melted.
• Ability to form crystals if done/heated properly.

Purpose: The purpose of including sugar on your Mochi recipe is to keep the Mochi soft, and silky, or if you will be eating it as a cold dessert. The sugar will also give the Mochi a nice, sweet taste rather than plain.

Lewis structure for sucrose, also known as table sugar. 

Ingredient: Corn Starch

Chemical name of ingredient: Amylose (25%) Amylopectin (75%)
Chemical formula of ingredient: C27H48O20
Health effect: 

• Little to no nutritional value.
• Doesn't contain gluten.
• Causes weight gain.

Made from: Cornstarch is derived from corn, and is also known as corn flour. If corn kernels are soaked in water long enough, between two and three days, the pericarp (center of fruit/vegetable) gets very, very soft. If it’s squeeze through rollers, pretty much all the starch that’s inside it is pressed out. That action pinches the germ (corn seed) off the bottom of the kernel, then the whole mess is rinsed and finally spun in a centrifuge (machine used to separate liquids of different densities.) The starch washes away and is dried to produce corn starch.

Physical Properties:

• White to yellow in color.
• Super fine powdery texture.
• Tastes like raw grain.

Purpose: Cornstarch is an important ingredient when making Mochi. The glutinous rice used to prepare Mochi causes it to have a super sticky texture, so dusting cornstarch on top of the Mochi after it's prepared will stop it from sticking onto your pan and from your hands when it's eaten. 

Chemical structure of cornstarch. 

Introduction

I chose Mochi Ice Cream because I believe it is delicious when served as a dessert. Mochi is a Japanese sticky rice cake used both in savory and sweet dishes. Mochi is usually made from sweet rice flour cooked and pounded until it becomes a paste that is very sticky and smooth. After the Mochi is prepared, it is then wrapped around a small ball of ice cream, also known as Mochi Ice Cream. The most known company that produce this product is named "Mikawaya," which you can order online from and chose a variety of flavors, or you can personally go to their store. Mochi Ice Cream is also found in any Trader Joe's located near you. The Company Mikawaya has been around since 1910, and are specialized in their fine, traditional pastries. The company was named after the founder Ryuzabulo Hashimoto's hometown region, Mikawa, in Japan.

Mikawaya sweets shop located in Little Tokyo near Downtown Los Angeles.