Japanese Village Life: Mochi making
Experiencing the traditional art of mochi making
December 2023
The early winter air was crisp but the sun was bright, promising a beautiful morning for the scheduled event of making mochi. Our village had done this event last year but we weren’t able to make it then. I was excited to participate this year, even though I don’t particularly like mochi. Haha!!! Mochi is a Japanese rice cake, but don’t think it’s anything like real cake. It’s simply pounded down rice, so pounded it looses it’s shape and texture and takes on a new form: dense and sticky.
For the lovers of mochi, they might describe it more like “chewy and delicately soft.”
The Japanese make a variety of goodies out of mochi, and on this particular day, we made just two: the plain mochi that is later cooked (fried, baked or cooked in soup) and eaten as a savoury, and the sweet anko mochi. anko is sweetened red adzuki beans made into a paste. Eating adzuki beans in a dessert was initially very strange to me. Shouldn’t beans be covered in savoury spices and eaten with vegetables??!! I think I’m still trying to get used to it!
We turned up to the mochi making in our village, and even though we weren’t late, it looked like everyone else had been there long before us! Steam was billowing out of a huge pot of rice sitting on the fire.
A few men were already pounding down the first lot of rice.
A special glutenous/sticky rice is used for mochi, it’s different from what you’d use for everyday eating or sushi.
Experienced mochi makers are fun to watch as they get into a rhythm of pounding and turning the mochi dough. As the mallet is lifted, the helper will grab and fold/turn the dough swiftly enough before the mallet falls back onto the dough. When the mallet is down, the helper will be dipping their hand into a bucket of water.
Pound-fold-pound-fold-pound-fold.
The speed at which this can be done is enough to hold your breath, scared that the mallet is going to come down onto the hand of the helper!1
The men in our village were possibly getting-on in age so the rice pounding was done rather gently. Hehe!!
Once the first ball of mochi dough was ready it was taken to the long table which instantly became a buzz of activity.
First, the dough was weighed out, then each portion was placed into a specially marked mochi packet, and then the ladies got to work. Using rolling pins and hands, the dough was pressed and spread out inside the packet.
The kids and I had a turn at spreading out the mochi in the packet. It was so sticky and elastic-y, it took persistence and great effort!
The packets have markings on them for cutting. The mochi is cut into rectangles and fried, baked or cooked in soup before eating.
Once all the orders for the savoury mochi had been filled, the ladies got out some trays and anko paste and it was time for making dessert!
Small balls of mochi dough were hand-shaped into flat rounds. A blob of anko was dropped into the centre of the round, then all the sides were pulled together to form a ball. The seams were pinched together to seal it.
It was a delicate art of making the round big enough, but not too thin. Adding the right amount of anko—not too much, not too less. And then pulling it all together in a beautiful round shape without it falling apart or anko oozing out!
Watching mochi making is fun, but for a child, it’s even more fund if they can get in on the action! A child-size mallet and wooden mortar were dragged out and soon the children were having a turn at pounding down the rice. The children were kept occupied, pounding down their rice and after much work and persistence, the dough was ready to take to the table for the next part of the process.
Bob enjoyed having a turn with the child’s mallet and mortar, but he and Missy were a bit big for it! The men were kind enough to let him have a turn of the adult one and teach him a few techniques.
It is tradition to eat mochi for New Years and just being a few weeks away, our village was now all stocked up and ready!
For anyone interested in trying mochi, you might find mochi ice-cream at your local supermarket. In Australia, Coles was stocking it. I’ve also had it in the United States. In Australia I have also seen sesame coated round mochi balls at Asian restaurants. Keep an eye out, mochi might be closer to you then you thought :-)
Sounds like you had so much fun :)
We did this at our international school in Japan. So amazing to see it up close! Even better eating it!