Rice is probably the most important staple food of Japan and has tons of significance in the Japan’s native religion, Shinto. However, the importance of rice doesn’t just include plain white rice in a bowl and extends to certain dishes made with rice. This includes the tasty, chewy treat that many affiliate with sweets, mochi!
We’ve already briefly talked about mochi in our Daifuku blog, but today, we’re doing a mild deep dive (a mild dive?) into this rice-based treat. So what is mochi? How do people make it traditionally? What is some of the history and culture surrounding this treat? Let’s find out!
What is Mochi?
Regardless of what mochi is, it always puts a smile on our face when we take a bite out of it. Image via Freepik
While people tend to think of mochi as an umbrella term for all of the dishes that use mochi (or mochi flour) as an ingredient, mochi itself is actually a dough made from rice that is steamed then pounded. Specifically, mochi uses mochi gome, a glutinous, short-grain rice with a naturally chewy texture.
And although mochi is often put under the umbrella of wagashi, or traditional Japanese sweets, it is not sweet in and of itself and can be savory. In fact, in order to make the sweet version, sugar must be added in the pounding process.
Mochi wasn’t traditionally sweet until sweet and sugary desserts came to be as a result of Portuguese trade, which brought both sugar and Western desserts to Japan.
A Mochi of Many Faces
Even the different varieties of mochi have their own variations, like these tasty dango with tasty cream toppings, including sweet potato and chestnut.
Once this rice dough is made, it’s cut into various shapes (usually round or rectangular) and sizes and can be enjoyed as is, stuffed, topped with other ingredients, or put to use in a huge variety of other dishes, both savory and sweet. And we really do mean “a huge variety”, especially if you include desserts made with mochi flour.
Dishes like mochi donuts, okonomiyaki stuffed with mochi and chikara udon are some of the popular dishes that incorporate this treat for added chewiness.
More than a Snack
Mochi also has a lot of significance to New Year’s, which we’ll talk more about later. However, this season features several foods that utilize these pounded rice cakes as an ingredient for both sweet and savory dishes.
Speaking of significance, mochi’s significance goes beyond just the New Year holiday, with it having a large spiritual significance in Shinto rituals.
Now, it's often used in foods like Ozoni to represents a long life, but imagine eating mochi as part of your wedding ceremony! Image via Instagram
How Do You Make Mochi (Traditionally)
Mochi is made usually in one of two ways—the traditional way and the modern, less traditional way usually used in home cooking (but the modern way will be in part two).
Mochitsuki
The traditional way is called mochitsuki, or rice pounding. Mochitsuki really is an art in and of itself, centering around more than just rice. This process often involves exercising patience, perseverance, stamina, rhythm, collaboration and community, creating a unique experience and memories.
But for now, let’s learn how mochitsuki works.
How do we go from rice to this to pounded rice balls? Let's find out! Image via Instagram
Mochitsuki Prep
First, you have to prepare the glutinous rice by soaking it overnight. You then have to steam the rice until it’s soft and ready for pounding. Now, place your rice into a traditional, large stone mortar and get ready to pound away.
The Pounding Dance
This next step requires two people (at least), some water and a larger mallet. You see, one person takes the mallet and will beat the rice with nice full swings. Meanwhile, the other person turns the rice-to-mochi mixture and adds water to prevent stickiness, all between mallet strikes.
This is why rhythm is so important, as a good rhythm gets the job done efficiently while also avoiding injury by mistimed mallet swing.
This goes on until the rice becomes… mochi.
Mochitsuki is common as both a smaller family event and as a larger community event, especially for areas with a lot of children. Image via Instagram
Post-Pounding Prep
However, at this point, you’ll have a large ball of mochi, so you have to cut it up into smaller pieces for immediate mochi enjoyment or preserving. But before digging in, rice cakes should be given a light coating of rice flour (or cornstarch) to prevent the rice cakes from being too sticky and morphing back into one giant ball when it touches other mochi.
If you preserve your mochi via drying or freezing, you can actually eat it up to a year later (but it will love flavor). Then, the saved rice cakes can be restored by grilling or boiling them.
Mochitsuki is a unique experience year-round, but events surrounding it really are special as they’re usually community events, with folks switching out when they get tired. Families will also do it around New Year’s and enjoy the mochi both alone and in New Year dishes, like Ozoni!
Many people use their New Year mochi in Zenzai, a sweet red bean soup with grilled rice cakes! Image via Instagram
Mochi in Japanese Culture & History
Rice in general has a huge cultural significance to Japan. It’s really the main staple of Japane, even being considered the main part of the meal in a lot of Japanese cooking. However, rice’s importance also goes into the realm of the spiritual, and this significance even extends to mochi.
Mochi in the Early Days
Could you imagine giving your baby this treat? Or eating it fresh after getting married? Because that's part of the legacy of mochi!
According to early records and stories, mochi has been said to hold spiritual power since the late 8th century. However, it started to be used for Shinto ceremonies during the Heian period (794-1185). These ceremonies included ones for young children’s health and the long marriage of newlyweds.
During this same period, New Year’s festivities started to incorporate mochi as well since these pounded rice cakes were associated with both a long life and well-being. Plus, dry mochi helped to strengthen teeth.
Much like rice, which we talked about in our Labor Thanksgiving Day blog, mochi is used in a variety of Shinto-related holidays, ceremonies and rituals, including as offerings to the kami (gods). New Year’s especially showcases this.
Mochi and O-Shogatsu (New Year’s)
Large shrines are the perfect way to see a large, fully-decorated kagami mochi around New Year's! Image via Instagram
First, it shows up as kagami mochi (mirror mochi), a stack of two large mochi (one larger than the other), one on top of the other, that is left out over the holidays with a daidai (Japanese bitter orange) and special decorations on top. It is usually set up before the end of the year in the house as an offering to Toshigami (the god of the New Year).
Toshigami usually rolls through the home on New Year’s, blessing the mochi, which probably has a hard shell by this time. After January 11th, the kagami mochi is broken with a hammer so people can eat the mochi and receive the blessings, usually opting to grill or boil it to bring it back to life and incorporate it into other dishes.
This custom came from the samurai class during the Muromachi period (1336-1573). Back then, kagami mochi was decorated with Japanese armor, swords and so on. Then, after Toshigami delivered his blessings, the samurai refused to cut the rice cakes with a knife. This was to avoid hurting the essence of the god left inside the mochi, hence the mallet.
Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see a plastic or wooden kagami mochi with the real rice cakes underneath and plastic-sealed, so people don’t have to just let it sit out. It’s the same thing, right? Image via Instagram
Over time, the tradition of mochitsuki was added to New Year’s. Plus, mochi began to pop up in traditional New Year dishes like O-zoni and zenzai, representing long life here too.
The New Year’s Hazard
Mochi is also quite popular as a New Year’s choking hazard. The very young and the elderly tend to have trouble swallowing mochi, so choking accidents happen often during the start of the year. That’s why notices often go out to remind people to chew their mochi properly, preventing it from getting stuck in the throat.
Mochi and Tsukimi
Tsukimi is all about embracing the blessings of the moon, and I think we are truly blessed with the fact that Tsukimi dango exists. Image via Instagram
You can also see this treat pop up during Tsukimi, or moon-viewing. For a quick rundown, Tsukimi is usually in September and October and involves an appreciation of the moon’s blessings on the world.
This season also sees mochi offered up in the form of a pyramid of white Tsukimi dango, or rice dumplings. These Tsukimi dango may include one (or two) that are colored yellow, with natural ingredient powders or with food dye, to represent the full moon. This time, the treat represents both health and happiness due to their auspicious shape.
Tsukimi season also features a fun bit of folklore saying that rabbits who live on the moon enjoy mochitsuki for the event.
We kind of wish that there were some holidays or traditions centered around strawberry daifuku. Image via Unsplash
Now, let’s talk about all the different types of… Oh wait! This blog is already getting pretty long, so while we’d love to tell you more about mochi, we’ll leave that to our Part 2 all about the types of mochi that you can enjoy! Be on the lookout for that blog to come soon!
