We had another cross-cultural event at Lucinda's school today: the traditional Japanese New Year's ceremony of "Mochitsuki," or rice pounding. The end result is "mochi," a chewy and bland ball of rice paste that's a confection in Japan.
First, rice is soaked in water...
...and steamed in this big steamer.
The cooked rice is dumped into a pine (I think) bowl, mushed and then smacked by two people with heavy mallets...
The end result is a glutinous dough; hope this picture illustrates properly.
The mochi balls are rolled in rice flour, as seen below, (exceedingly bland), rolled in crushed soybeans and sugar (not bad), dipped in soy sauce and sandwiched in "nori" (seaweed), or topped with a red bean sauce (no thanks).
Each kid had a chance to pound rice with the heavy mallet. Here's Lucinda taking a turn.
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