Mochitsuki

My family loves to do traditional Japanese activities.  One popular activity in early January is making mochi.  Mochi is pounded rice.  Most Americans think of it as ice cream wrapped in some chewy flavored stuff, but the mochi is actually the stuff that is wrapped around the ice cream in that particular treat.  Mochi is pretty plain by itself.  The ingredients are rice (a particular type of rice) and water.  It is often covered in a dusting of either corn starch or potato starch to keep it from sticking to other pieces of mochi. 

Photo curtesy of: tasteopinion.com

In Japan, mochi is used in a number of ways - as a sweet and a savory treat or ingredient.  One of my favorite ways to eat mochi is to put it in the toaster oven until it gets a bit brown and crunchy.  Then I dip it in a mixture of soy sauce and sugar.  It is delightful.  At new year's we eat it in soup.  After simmering in the soup for a short time, it gets really melty and gooey.  I honestly didn't like it the first time I had it, but have come to love it. 

The building association where my husband works in held a mochitsuki (mo-chee-sue-key) event today, where we could make mochi.  Luckily the day was nice and sunny, although cold.  We went up to the roof of a building (the same building where we harvested rice) where other families were gathering.  After a short introduction, the mochitsuki started.  They brought steamed rice to a big wooden bowl where a man crushed the rice with a huge mallet.  After the initial crushing, the pounding started.  People, mostly kids, took turns whacking the rice to make it into a large melded lump. 

Steaming the rice

Crushing the rice and preparing for pounding

One person pounds while the other person adds more water and turns the ball of mochi

It takes a lot of pounding to get a nice smooth texture

We've attended mochitsuki's before.  This one was super fun because it included our son and he is at an age where he could really appreciate it.  He was so excited to be able to pound the rice and make mochi.  We used to make mochi with a friend's machine in Seattle, which has always been special fun.  Also, this way was old school - no machines doing all the hard work. 

After making the mochi, we were able to enjoy some ozoni (New Year's miso soup) with white miso, mochi, and bonito. 

Doing activities like these make me really happy.  They allow me to show my son his heritage in a way we could never experience it in the US.  And I enjoy them, too.  I have loved Japanese culture for so long, especially the traditions that bring families together.