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During the run-up to Christmas in the West (or at least in the UK, as far
as I know), it’s traditional to gather around and stuff yourselves with
mince pies. Well, in Japan, they have their own equivalent for New Year –
mochi. I think I’ve already mentioned mochi before, but to re-iterate
mochi are pounded rice cakes. And this evening, I got to participate in
eating this delicious treat, and see mochi being made in the traditional
fashion.
We gathered in the Japanese dormitory common room, where outside a group
of students were boiling huge amounts of rice in a basin. Inside the
common room, tatami mats were all laid down and several small
barbeque-style cookers were set up, together with a bowl of boiled water
and different flavourings. We all sat in circles around the cookers, and
the students gave us cups of green tea.
To one side of the room was a huge, mysteriously steaming stone
basin-cum-mortar, filled with the boiled rice. Two students stood beside
the basin, each one holding a huge mallet. When the basin was filled with
rice, the students used the mallets to gently press the rice together, and
eventually took it in turns to pound it as hard as they could. So this is
confectionary Japanese style, I thought!
The pounding action turned the boiled rice into a dough, which was scraped
out of the basin and taken to the table to be rolled into small mochi
cakes. Some were prepared with anko inside – my favourite! When this was
done, trays filled with mochi were brought to each group. We then put the
mochi on the cooker and toasted it. This part’s fun – the mochi swells as
it toasts and looks like it’s going to explode at any minute, and several
times we set our mochi cakes on fire! Once the mochi was fully toasted, we
dunked them in the boiled water so they become steamed, and then rolled
them in the sweet flavourings. Then we could finally eat them. Delicious!
I got through four mochi cakes, which has now completely filled me up.
When you consider how much rice is pounded into one small mochi, its
understandable. For mochi cakes is probably the equivalent of two large
bowls of rice, and two of mine had anko inside. I really couldn’t eat any
more if I tried!
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