Mochi is so much more than any other Japanese treat. It is such a central part of many autumn and winter events that if you are living in or visiting Japan at this time of year, expect to participate in mochi mashing at some point. In fact, schools, towns, businesses throughout the countryside have special mochi making festivals in which all members have a turn at the giant hammer/pestle. It seems to me mochi is most often made in large, community groups, rather than in the home.
The glutinous rice is cooked in large, woodburning ovens, tended to by the women. It is usually the men who pound the rice into mochi, although kids and visiting foreigners are given a chance as well. Once the massive lump of mochi is deemed ready, it is passed to the womenfolk, who quickly, before the mochi cools off too much, roll it into small balls and package it into plastic baggies.
Recently, the second level students at my junior high school held a mochi festival. Each of the classes in the grade set up an oven, a table for prepping the mochi and of course, the giant mortar. Everyone cheered on the students pounding the rice and when the time came, the girls quickly and effeciently made up the mochi balls. But, as will happen when you have 40 fourteen-year old kids and a table covered in flour and sticky goo, play fights became the norm once the day's activities were coming to a close. I left for the staffroom when I realized that once everyone was covered in flour that I would become the next victim.
The most delightful treat, however, was handed to me at this festival before
chaos ensued. Mochi is rather tasteless whereas
anko can be a little overwhelming to the western
palate. My students floored my tastebuds with a combination of the two wrapped around a fresh
strawberry. I never imagined beans, rice and strawberries could go so well together. I imagine also that this treat would only taste as good fresh off the production line rather than out of a freshness sealed container.
Mochi also plays an important role in the celebrations of a new house. The other day I was invited to a mochi-maki for the opening of one of my student's new home. I asked if I should bring anything, like flowers or something that we would traditionally bring to a housewarming in the west. I was told that I should bring a plastic bag and, if I felt necessary, a hard hat. I didn't understand until today. When I arrived, I was handed a bag (I thought they were joking) and stood in a crowd at the entrance of the house. The builders and the landlord of the house (Haruna's father and the vice principal at one of the elementary schools where I work) scrammled onto the roof and proceeded to throw handfulls of mochi at those gathered below. For five minutes, we all scrambled to fill our bags with as much mochi as we could while trying to avoid being knocked unconcious. We then stood around for another five minutes comparing who had the biggest catch.