Mochi
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Mochi is a Japanese food. For the pre-Columbian Peruvian culture, see Moche; for the drink, see mocha. For Chinese rice cake see Nian gao.
Mochi (Japanese ) is the Japanese variant of Chinese rice cake, which, like its Chinese origin, is made of glutinous rice, pounded into paste and molded into shape; however, unlike the Chinese variety, it is molded right after it is pounded, whereas the Chinese variety is baked once again after to solidify the mixture as well as sanitize it. In Taiwan, it is written as with almost identical Chinese pronunciation. Traditionally in Japan, it is made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. It may also be made in an automatic mochi machine, similar to a breadmaker. In fact, mochi can be made using a breadmaker if the rice is soaked and steamed separately and the machine can be started in a kneading mode.
In Korea, a nearly identical food is called chapssaltteok (RR; Hangul: 찹쌀떡), chapssal meaning "sticky rice," and is also spelled tteok, duk, dduk, duek, or d'uk.
While eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and commonly sold and eaten at that time. Mochi is very sticky and somewhat tricky to eat. After each new year, it is reported in the Japanese media how many people die from choking on mochi. The victims are usually elderly.
Mochitsuki
Mochitsuki is the traditional mochi-pounding ceremony in Japan.
- Polished glutinous rice is soaked overnight and cooked.
- It is pounded with wooden mallets (kine) in a traditional mortar (usu). Two people will alternate the work, one pounding and the other turning and wetting the mochi. The mochi must be kept wet to keep it from sticking to the mallet.
- The sticky mass is then formed into various shapes (usually a sphere or cube).
Popular uses for mochi
Confectionery
Many types of traditional wagashi (Japanese traditional sweets) are made with mochi. For example, daifuku is a soft round mochi stuffed with sweet filling, for example a sweetened red bean paste. Ichigo daifuku is a version containing a whole strawberry inside.Kusa mochi is a green variety of mochi flavored with yomogi (mugwort). When daifuku is made with kusa mochi, it is called yomogi daifuku.
Mochi ice cream, is small balls of ice cream wrapped inside a mochi covering. In Japan this is manufactured by Lotte under the name Yukimi Daifuku, "snow-viewing daifuku". It is also popular in California and Hawaii.
Grilled and fried mochi
- Yakimochi is a grilled rice cake. After the rice cake is grilled, it is flavored with soy sauce and wrapped in toasted nori. Mochi and cheese is a version containing cheese, a popular izakaya fare.
- Agemochi are deep-fried fragments of mochi. The mochi puffs up like a rice cracker.
- Kakemochi or arare are small snacks made from mochi.
Soup
- Oshiruko or ozenzai is a sweet azuki bean soup with pieces of mochi. In winter, Japanese people often eat it to warm themselves.
- Chikara udon (meaning "power udon") is a dish consisting of udon noodles in soup topped with toasted mochi.
New Year specialties
- Kagami mochi is a New Year decoration, which is traditionally broken and eaten in a ritual called Kagami biraki (mirror opening).
- Zoni soup is a soup containing rice cakes. Zoni is also eaten on New Year's Day. In addition to mochi, zoni contains vegetables like honeywort, carrot, and red and white colored boiled kamaboko.
Other
- Warabimochi is not true mochi, but a jelly-like confection made from bracken starch and covered or dipped in kinako (sweet toasted soybean flour). It is popular in the summertime, and often sold from trucks, not unlike ice cream trucks in Western countries.
Other facts
- In Japanese folk tradition, rabbits living on the Moon produce mochi in the traditional method with mallets and mortars. (This legend is based on the traditional pareidolia that identifies the markings of the moon as a rabbit pounding mochi.[link])
- Mochi is also the name of a monster type and character in the game and TV series Monster Rancher. It is so named for its physical resemblance to a type of mochi pastry.
- Mochi sometimes gets stuck in elderly people's throats. Because it is so sticky it is difficult to dislodge via the Heimlich maneuver. In the Japanese comedy film Tampopo, a house vacuum is used to suck it out.
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