Here are the classic mochi sweets in Japan. Many kinds of mochi sweets are stuffed with red bean paste, but there are some that do not include the red bean filling. Mochi sweets or mochigashi (餅菓子) are traditional Japanese confectioneries made from glutinous rice, non-glutinous regular white rice, kudzu starch, or bracken starch. As a result, it does not harden like the traditional plain mochi. Plain mochi requires cooking such as baking, boiling, or frying after a certain amount of time has passed, but gyuhi can be eaten as is without cooking. Gyuhi has a high content of moisture due to the sugar. Then, the dough t is used as the outer wrapping for traditional Japanese sweets like daifuku mochi. The soft, delicate dough is made by heating and kneading glutinous rice flour with water, sugar, and sometimes mizuame (水飴, starch syrup). Gyuhi is made with glutinous rice flour such as shiratamako (白玉粉, chunkier flour) or mochiko (餅粉, fine powder). When people outside of Japan talk about mochi, it refers to this mochi-like dough or mochi-wrapped confectionery however, the Japanese do not call this type of dough “mochi.” Similar to mochi, gyuhi (求肥) is a mochi-like dough and it is an essential ingredient used in various Japanese sweets called wagashi (和菓子). The ceremony marks significant events or transitions to new stages in life. At the end of the New Year’s celebration, the Japanese have a tradition of performing a ceremony called kagami biraki which involves breaking the mochi. □□ Do you know about the Japanese New Year mochi decorations? Come in pairs, kagami mochi (鏡餅) are round-shaped, decorated rice cakes made as an offering to the deity of the New Year. □□ How do you eat plain mochi? You can enjoy it with savory or sweet toppings/fillings following my recipe. Try toasting them in the toaster oven or a dry frying pan, and top a hot soup like this Chikara Udon or a dessert-style red bean soup like Zenzai. □□ No time to make a fresh one? Get dried kiri mochi from Japanese grocery stores or Amazon ! Kiri mochi or “cut mochi” is a shelf-stable dried mochi that comes in square and round shapes. This is a fairly straightforward process and many of the JOC readers have tried it with success. □□ Wish to learn how to make plain mochi from scratch? My Homemade Mochi recipe shows you how to make it with a rice cooker and KitchenAid stand mixer. In the modern days, you can make mochi with a Japanese bread machine with a “mochi making” function, a mochi making machine, or a shortcut method by using a microwave. The traditional method of making mochi requires at least two people to handle a large Japanese stamp mill called usu (臼) and a heavy wooden pestle called kine (杵). To make mochi, the glutinous rice is first soaked in water, then steamed, and finally mashed and pounded until smooth and formed into a typical round shape or other desired shapes. It’s the most basic and traditional style of Japanese rice cake, known for its subtle sweetness and chewy texture. Plain mochi is made with only 2 simple ingredients: mochigome (short-grain glutinous rice) and water. The glutinous rice contains amylopectin, a water-soluble component of starch, and when released into liquids, it gives mochi its beloved texture. Mochi is made from a Japanese variety of short-grain glutinous rice (also known as sweet rice) called mochigome (糯米). You can’t deny the joy of taking a bite of mochi-whether it’s glazed with savory soy sauce, used as a topping in udon noodle soup, filled with sweet red bean paste, or stuffed with strawberry ice cream. Thanks to its delicate quality, mochi can take on many forms and pair well with a great variety of flavors and ingredients. Now eaten year-round, mochi still carries significant meanings for festivals, social events, and ceremonies, such as weddings, Children’s Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Japanese New Year celebrations. The tradition of eating and making mochi is closely tied to the cultural symbol of rice in Japanese society. Traditionally, mochi is considered celebratory food and is eaten to bring good luck on special occasions. * In this post, we will refer to all rice cakes including mochi confectionaries as ‘mochi.’ So you’d need to know what you are looking for before referring to all Japanese rice cakes as ‘mochi.’ Specific names would be used for other mochi confectionaries ( mochigashi). When the word ‘ mochi‘ or ‘ o-mochi‘ (with the honorific “o”) is used, the Japanese would only associate it with traditional plain mochi, which can be served fresh and dried and with a sweet or savory filling. In Japan, however, the definition of “mochi” can be a little murky and bemusing. Mochi is commonly used as the umbrella term for all the different styles and flavors of Japanese rice cakes outside of Japan.
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