Subject: Omochi (Was: Ozoni)
> < New Year holidays and ozoni >
Our family got away from ozoni as a New Year ritual pretty early on.
My mom still buys frozen mochi every December and gives me a couple bags of the
rounded mochi (the ones I remember from Japan were rectangular and often
hard and dry on the outside until we heated them up),
but we don't make much of a New Year's show of it. I just heat them up in
the frying pan, and snarf them up with sugar and soy sauce. Not very
elegant -- but it hits my sweet spot ...
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> < rounded vs. rectangular mochi >
I've been told that the rectangular mochi - the mochi is flattened and
cut with a knife - is a Kanto feature - the Tokyo region, whereas the
rest of the country tends to pull the mochi (like taffy) and shape them
into little rounds.
Sliced mochi can be baked in an oven and you get senbei.
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> Sliced mochi can be baked in an oven and you get senbei.
When we were in Japan we noticed a lot of little sembei places that had
someone sitting in the window baking little slabs (about 1/4" in diameter)
over charcoal. When they puffed up they pulled it from the heat and
dipped into a shoyu-sugar mixture and sprinkled goma on it. They
wrapped a dozen in paper and tied it with string. People were lined up
waiting to buy it.
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> Sliced mochi can be baked in an oven and you get senbei.
Another method of making sembei (not quite as healthy), is to break
up the leftover hard mochi and deep fry the pieces in oil just
like when you make tempura or french fries. After removing from the
oil, place on a rack or paper towels to drain some of the excess
oil and sprinkle with salt, goma, etc.
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> The time between the family Mochitsuki and New Year's Day
> allowed the mochi to become rock hard! Families boiled
> their mochi in soup because that was the only way to make
> them soft enough to eat! I think that boiling mochi became
> the rule out of necessity. What do you think of this theory?
Our family bakes the mochi using a grill on a stove top to make it soft.
When put in the soup, it becomes a bit more soft and ready to eat.
On the subject of mochi, my caucasian girlfriend tried mochi for the
first time this past New Year's and hated it. It seems most caucasians
hate mochi. Do people have other empirical evidence?
She also heard on the news that 13 people died in Japan this past New
Year's from choking on mochi. (For me, this was not 'news', as it
happens every year.) But she is using this as further proof that
she is justified in not eating mochi. "It's not worth risking [her]
life for mochi". :)
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> On the subject of mochi, my caucasian girlfriend tried
> mochi for the first time this past New Year's and hated it.
> It seems most caucasians hate mochi. Do people have other
> empirical evidence?
My wife (who's Caucasian) also dislikes mochi. I don't know if it's the
taste or texture -- I'm the first to admit that some Japanese food has a
yucky texture. But to me, the stretchy stickiness of mochi is wonderful!
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> On the subject of mochi, my caucasian girlfriend tried
> mochi for the first time this past New Year's and hated it.
> It seems most caucasians hate mochi. Do people have other
> empirical evidence?
Some of our non-JA friends really like mochi -- but I think it depends on
how it is served. When we make mochi we always make a batch that are
smaller -- for our non-JA friends. They seem to dislike the
texture more than anything. When we serve it they like it best with just
shoyu, sugar and a dash of mirin. When they eat it they mention they take
small bites and that the mochi itself doesn't have any taste but the
"sauce" is what makes it good. Our favorite is mochi dipped in shoyu and
oroshi-daikon and a dash of tongarashi for "bite." The daikon part is
"authentic", but adding the tongarashi is definitely not.
> She also heard on the news that 13 people died in Japan
> this past New Year's from choking on mochi. (For me, this
> was not 'news', as it happens every year.) But she is using
> this as further proof that she is justified in not eating
> mochi. "It's not worth risking [her] life for mochi". :)
We were in Japan for New Year's this year and The Japan Times
reported 9 deaths due to eating mochi. However, tell your girlfriend the
deaths occurred in senior citizens who were at least 65 and older. Is she
that old?
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> Some of our non-JA friends really like mochi -- but I think
> it depends on how it is served. When we make mochi we always
> make a batch that are smaller -- for our non-JA friends.
I think that may be the key. I was planning on getting some, and cutting
them into small pieces then grilling it, so it's crispy on the outside, but
soft and chewy on the inside. Maybe then she'll like it. If not, I will
have to take the responsibility to eat it myself. :)
>> She also heard on the news that 13 people died in Japan
>> this past New Year's from choking on mochi. (For me, this
>> was not 'news', as it happens every year.) But she is using
>> this as further proof that she is justified in not eating
>> mochi. "It's not worth risking [her] life for mochi". :)
>
> We were in Japan for New Year's this year and The Japan Times
> reported 9 deaths due to eating mochi. However, tell your
> girlfriend the deaths occurred in senior citizens who were
> at least 65 and older. Is she that old?
Not even close to that old! :) I had told her that it's seniors who were
affected, but I don't think she was really listening to reason. I tried
to point out the similarity to the fact that many Canadians die of
every winter of heart attacks while shoveling snow (almost all of them
old men). I live in a high-rise, so I don't have to shovel snow, but maybe
when I move into a house, I'll use that excuse for not shovelling snow!
I'm sure Ties Talkers in SoCal are counting their blessings! :)
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> Our family bakes the mochi using a grill on a stove top
> to make it soft. When put in the soup, it becomes a bit
> more soft and ready to eat.
My wife likes to heat the mochi in the toaster oven so that it becomes
slightly puffy before she puts it into her special ozoni soup base (which I
think is the best I've ever had; she mixes the usual veggies with ground
walnuts and it is fantastic). I like to heat my mochi in the microwave but
only slightly until soft.
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
My mother grew up in southern Wakayama prefecture, and according to her,
her village was divided into those who eat mochi at New Year's and those who
prefered sushi. She and her family were on the sushi side of the fence,
and only on an occasional New Year's or some other time would she eat mochi.
My father on the other hand grew up in an American Japanese farming family
and was quite used to mochitsuki and stuff, and insists on having mochi
for New Year's more than anything else.
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> It seems most caucasians hate mochi. Do people have other
> empirical evidence?
Eating mochi is not so much for the taste but for a lot of other historical/cultural
stuff that comes along with eating mochi in Japan. I think it is pretty understandable
that anyone not growing up eating mochi would not find it pleasant right away.
But once you acquire the taste for it, it sure is tasty. I eat ozoni in the
local restaurants in J-town about 20 times in January until I get tired of it
and then wait for next year. I also know that there is "the thrill of danger"
in eating mochi, like eating fugu (deadly pufferfish). I may have to stop eating
mochi when I turn 70 or so, but until then...
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> She also heard on the news that 13 people died in Japan
> this past New Year's from choking on mochi. (For me, this
> was not 'news', as it happens every year.) But she is using
> this as further proof that she's justified in not eating
> mochi. "It's not worth risking [her] life for mochi". :)
Many of the chokers were either young children or older adults.
Before I developed an allergy to peanuts, I used to put peanut butter
on my toasted mochi. It tasted delicious but it was rather chewy.
I have also tried different jams and jellies, too.
As an aside ... KONNYAKU (or more correctly KON'YAKU) is a Japanese thing.
but if you look at some old Western cookbooks -- I mean cookbooks from
the pioneers of the old West and the Midwest, and you come across an
ingredient list that calls for "Devil's Tongue," that is precisely the
same as KON'YAKU!!! I think it is made from the starch of some potato
or yam.
POI is made from a taro root. Taro is the Tahitian name for the plant,
the Hawaiians called it KALO. Taro is a similar to plant from which
SATOIMO comes from. The plant is predominant in the Southeast Asia, and
was likely to have spread from there over the Pacific islands and East
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
> It seems most caucasians hate mochi. Do people have other
> empirical evidence?
My wife (Hispanic) will eat one or two over the course of a week ... plain.
I like it freshly pounded. She thinks it is a lot like the "masa" used in
tamales. Hmmm. My kids like to use them as hockey pucks.
I guess they just can't appreciate, eh?
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
About mochi, my favorite is to have it with natto. Just mix boiled mochi
with natto and oroshi daikon (and a bit of negi maybe) and that's it.
If you love natto this is really good.
Subject: Re: JA Food: Omochi
All these mochi stories are making me salivate! I learned of a great
way to eat mochi this New Year's at home from my Japanese sister-in-law.
It's called 'isobe yaki'. Fry mochi in a generous amount of olive oil
(medium heat) until it gets puffy and crispy on the outside and
is soft and gooey on the inside. Transfer to a plate, douse with soy
sauce, smash it around (both sides), then wrap in two
pieces of precut dried seaweed. It's heaven! I'll have to try to spike it
with something hot as was mentioned in an earlier post ... the possibilities!
Last updated 16 December 1999