【Rice Cakes】Thorough explanation of Japanese rice cakes!

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Yes, this is U-shi-!

This time I would like to write an article about rice cakes(Mochi).
Have you ever tried Japanese rice cakes?
Japanese rice cakes are delicious and U-shi- can eat as many as possible.
Mochi (rice cake) is a very good food for a hungry stomach, and is very popular in Japan as a very lucky food.
In this article, I would like to share with you the charm of rice cakes.
I hope you will read this article to the end and learn about the charm of rice cakes.

What does mochi look like?

First of all, I would like you to take a look at Japanese mochi.
Please take a look.

Here are the rice cakes I have prepared this time.
The white food is the rice cake I am going to introduce here, and it is called kiri-mochi.
The green-colored rice cake is called warabi-mochi, and the pink-colored rice cake is called sakura-mochi.
They look different, but I would like to explain what the differences are besides the appearance.

Explanation of Mochi

I would like to explain rice cakes in three parts.
First, what is rice cake?
The second is the history of rice cakes.
The third is the nutrients in rice cakes.
I will explain each of them in detail.

what is rice cake?

First, let me explain what rice cake is.
Mochi is a food made by processing glutinous rice.
However, mochi is not only made from glutinous rice, but also from other ingredients such as glutinous rice flour, non-glutinous rice, and starch.
In Japan, rice cake can be divided into two types: tsuki-mochi, which is made by steaming crushed glutinous rice and pounding it with a mallet, and neri-mochi, which is made by kneading grain flour with hot water and steaming it.
In general, rice cake refers to pounded rice cakes, while kneaded rice cakes are often referred to as dumplings.
Kneaded rice cakes of dumplings are generally classified as Japanese sweets.
So you can see that there is a difference in the method and ingredients used to make sliced rice-cake, sakura mochi, and warabi mochi that I mentioned earlier.
Do you understand now?
Here I would like to briefly introduce the different types of mochi and how they are made.

Types of Mochi and How to Make Them

First of all, there are four types of mochi: sliced rice-cake I mentioned earlier, the maru mochi, the noshi mochi, and the kagami mochi.
Kagami mochi is used to decorate rice cakes for the New Year.
Next is the type of mochi that includes kneaded mochi.
Rice cakes has the characteristic of having a variety of flavors depending on the ingredients used for kneading.
Therefore, there are many different types of mochi, each type has its own name depending on the ingredients used to make the mochi and the material used to knead it.
Let me show you some pictures.
These are the Japanese mochi.
Go ahead.

What did you think?
There are so many kinds and they look so delicious.
Lastly, how to make mochi.

how to make mochi

As I explained earlier, tsuki-mochi is rice cake made by steaming glutinous rice and pounding it with a pestle.
Tsuki mochi is made by steaming glutinous rice and pounding it with a pestle.
This is the pestle.
The pestle is a tool used to make mochi.
Can you imagine how to make mochi?
Please watch the video of the mochi making process to understand.
So here gose the video.

What did you think?
This is how it is done.
This is the traditional Japanese way of making mochi, or pounded rice cake.
This is the way it is made in a wide area of Japan.
The video you watched was taken when I was a student.
U-shi- also did mochi pounding, but it was very hard work.

History of mochi next

I will explain the history of mochi next.
Mochi has been made since the Yayoi period, when rice cultivation was introduced and steaming technology became popular.
It is said that since ancient times, rice cakes have been used to represent the gods of the land, and as a special food in which the gods dwell, people began to prepare rice cakes for the gods, wishing for and thanking them for a good harvest.
Mochi is believed to have the spiritual power to give strength and regenerate new life when eaten, so it was made and offered on special days for celebrations and seasonal festivals such as Setsubun and Momo-no-Sekku, and was also eaten on seasonal occasions such as Tanabata and Obon.
I have made a picture of which mochi is eaten at which times in Japan, and I would like to show it to you.

So go ahead.

Nutrition of rice cake

Yes, lastly, let me explain about the nutrients in mochi.
Since rice cakes are made from rice, they can supplement the energy needed for living things to operate, maintain healthy skin and mucous membranes, and eliminate waste.
In addition, two pieces of rice cakes can provide almost the same amount of calories as a bowl of rice, and since they are digested and absorbed relatively slowly, they are good for the stomach.

Delicious way to eat Mochi

Zenzai

Mochi is a food that can be eaten in many different ways and is enjoyed by many people.
It can be baked, boiled, or fried.
Depending on how you eat it, you can experience different mochi tastes.
I, U-shi-, would like to share with you my recommendation on how to eat it.
The recommended way is to eat fried rice cakes.
The fried rice cake is dipped in sugar and soy sauce, and it is the best way to eat it.

You have to be careful not to eat too many rice cakes, because if you eat too many, you will gain weight, but fried rice cakes are delicious and you can eat as many as you want.
It is really delicious.
All you need is rice cake, sugar, soy sauce, and oil. I hope everyone will try it.

Lastly

Ichigo-daifuku

How about the explanation of Japanese rice cakes so far?
I hope you have been able to feel the charm of mochi.
Mochi is a truly delicious food.
If you have never tried mochi, please try it.