Making Mochi

Last weekend we went to a parade in Asakusa, the old section of Tokyo. On our way, we passed this storefront selling fresh mochi. Mochi is rice that has been pounded. It has the consistency of bread dough, but a little less sticky. It can be used in sweet or savory dishes.

I like the sweet mochi (big surprise!). The most traditional sweet is mochi filled with sweet red bean paste. It's best when it's warm, but good all the time. The mochi can also be flavored with green tea and in Kyoto we had cinnamon flavored mochi.

Nowadays most mochi is machine-made, but these guys are old school. First the rice has to cool off a little, then they make a few preliminary hammers just to get it a little sticky.

Then one guy pounds while the other reaches into the wooden bowl to knead the rice so it's even. It would be nerve-wracking to be the kneader. His fingers were in serious danger.

Some more cherry blossoms. Each type of cherry tree has a slightly different flowering time, so you get blooms for about a month. These are double-blossoms cherry trees and they are one of the later blooming variety.

We're totally planting cherry trees when we come home. Actually, we found a temple this weekend with the most amazing garden and I think Gen wants to spend our retirement funds recreating it.