Mochi Making 2016

January 5th, 2017 by justJENN

It’s a new year which means it’s time for mochi. A Japanese tradition, mochi making for the 1st of January is a big deal and no one does it better than the FoodLibrarian‘s family. This is the 61st year that the family members have come together for this tradition and every year something new is learned and adjustments are made.

First the machines were introduced, now mochi keeps it’s shape thanks to muffin tins, ice was added to cool down the process, so many great innovative ideas that keep the tradition chugging along.

Making 200 pounds of mochi for Japanese New Year at @foodlibrarian's family mochitsuki ? #oshogatsu

A video posted by Jenn Fujikawa (@justjennrecipes) on Dec 27, 2016 at 10:49am PST

During the packing we calculated that this year in using 200 pounds of rice, over 3100 pieces of mochi were handmade to hand out to friends and family. That’s a whole lotta little rice balls.

You can’t make all that mochi without one or two or ten taste tests. There are so many different ways to eat mochi from sweet Chi Chi Dango Mochi, to mochi filled with red bean, nutella and even peanut butter and jelly. Some people like their mochi with kinako or shoyu and sugar but you can also eat zunda mochi which is served with sweetened fresh edamame beans. The joy of mochi making always kicks off a positive start to the new year. Happy 2017!

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