Mochi-making

It's a New Year's tradition to make/partake of mochi.  Here in Tokyo, our building sponsored a demonstration of traditional mochi-making in which soaked white rice is pounded into a solid and sticky substance.  The mochi dough is then rolled or shaped into bite sized portions and can be put in soup or more often is used as the base for a sweet, sticky desert.  It can be dusted with sweet green tea powder or rolled and stuffed with an (sweet akuki bean paste).  I think there are probably hundreds of "sweet" variations.

It was bitterly cold the morning we watched this demonstration.  Max, rather than waiting in line to pound the mochi, begged to go to the nearby toy store.  So no shots of him pounding.  As you can see from the video, it's a highly orchestrated process of pounding and maneuvering and wetting the dough.  Be careful or you might lose your hand.

mochi; mochiko
[MOH-chee, MOH-chee-koh]
A sweet, short-grained, very glutinous rice with a high starch content. Mochi is commonly used to make rice cakes, for which it is pounded in large tubs until it becomes extremely sticky. It is then formed into balls or squares, which can be found in Japanese markets. Mochi is also used in confections and rice dishes. Mochiko is a rice flour made from mochi.