Hi everyone!! Nicki here, back again with another FFXIV recipe. This one was a user request that I just couldn’t say no to. The way Catsfoot Chews are described in the Vanu quests - “A soft, sticky confection made with ground catsfoot leaves to give it a bright emerald-green color” - reminded me of kusa mochi, a mochi flavored with yomogi/mugwort leaves. Mugwort is kind of difficult to find in the US, so I had to order yomogi powder off Amazon to make this tasty candy! Yomogi has a wonderful aroma and an herbal, almost licorice-like flavor that tastes amazing in mochi. Sweet rice flour (mochiko) can be found at most upscale grocery stores (Central Market, Whole Foods, etc.)

I’ve made mochi a couple of times and it’s super easy, fast, and produces a deliciously chewy candy. All you need is a microwave-safe bowl or two and a whisk. It also helps to have a pastry or dough cutter on hand, as mochi is QUITE sticky, even sprinkled with rice flour powder! By the way, if you have a traditional steamer, you can use that instead of the microwave.

A word to the wise: a little food coloring can go a long way in making attractive mochi. I remember making strawberry mochi without it…. and it turned out a pale pink, looking like raw chicken. :S The in-game icon isn’t the “bright emerald-green” it’s described to be, but you can achieve a very lovely deep green color with just a drop of green food coloring.

Catsfoot Chews!

2 cups water

1.5 tbsp yomogi or mugwort powder (can use fresh leaves instead, if you have them!)



2 cups mochiko (sweet rice flour), plus more for sprinkling

1 cup sugar

Oil or cooking spray to grease the bowl



1 drop green food coloring (optional)





Mix the yomogi powder into two cups of warm water and stir to dissolve. The powder I ordered was very fine, so it dissolved just above room temperature, but you can microwave the mixture if the water isn’t warm enough to dissolve. Sift the mochiko and sugar together, then add the yomogi mixture and one drop of green food coloring. With a whisk, beat the mixture until it’s uniform and there are no lumps. Transfer mixture to a greased microwave-safe bowl and put it in the microwave. Mine took about 9-10 minutes on HIGH in my microwave to become smooth, thick, and gummy; depending on your microwave, it might be a little shorter or longer. If you taste a tiny bit (taste with great caution - it’s HOT) and it’s thick and chewy and no longer tastes grainy, it’s ready.

Remove it from the microwave. Dust a cutting board or a clean countertop with more sweet rice flour and turn the dough out onto it. DO NOT TOUCH IT YET! Fresh mochi is hot lava! When the dough is cool enough to handle, sprinkle it all over with rice flour and gently shape it and flatten it. (By the way, slapping the slab of pre-cut mochi produces like, the most satisfying sound ever. It’s basically a big toy.) Cut the warm dough into individual squares and dust with a little more flour so they don’t stick together. Roll the pieces between your hands to form balls. You can also roll the pieces in sesame seeds if you want a traditional crunchy topping. Mochi is best eaten fresh - or traded for firewood!