{"id":28445,"date":"2013-01-07T23:16:55","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T03:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=28445"},"modified":"2013-01-07T23:16:55","modified_gmt":"2013-01-08T03:16:55","slug":"mochi-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2013\/01\/07\/mochi-making\/","title":{"rendered":"Mochi Making"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted by Benjamin Martin<\/strong><\/a>, a 5th year JET in Okinawa<\/a>, publisher of the blog MoreThingsJapanese.com<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and author of the YA fantasy novel\u00a0<\/em>Samurai Awakening<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(Tuttle).<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Mochi<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s the New Year, and in Japan that means its time for\u00a0mochi!\u00a0 \u00a0Mochi\u00a0<\/em>is a Japanese treat made from pounded rice. \u00a0While\u00a0mochi<\/em>\u00a0is now eaten throughout the year, it’s a favorite tradition during \u00a0the New Year’s season. \u00a0It’s generally served as a stuffed dumpling with fillings varying by region, taste, and tradition. \u00a0On the left is a sweet bean filled\u00a0mochi<\/em>\u00a0served on a getto leaf in Okinawa.<\/p>\n

More on Mochi<\/h2>\n

In Japan, a lot of events have their origins in times when most villager’s diets consisted of very simple food. \u00a0A long time ago, when rice was used as a currency, most Japanese only got to eat rice on special occasions. \u00a0A condensed rice treat then, would have more calories, and be even more special. \u00a0Eating\u00a0mochi<\/em>\u00a0on new years “to ensure health in the new year” was almost literal. \u00a0It was like a version of ancient Japanese powerbar. \u00a0One Japanese story,\u00a0Momotaro<\/em>, tells of the young peach boy offering rice based treats to ensure help in a quest. \u00a0Such legends show the how the traditions came to be. \u00a0Today mochi is still an import part of New Year’s celebrations. \u00a0It forms the centerpiece for the offering at many shrines.<\/p>\n

\"Mochi<\/a><\/p>\n

Mochi<\/em>\u00a0takes time, energy, and to really do it right, community. \u00a0All of these things tie into most Japanese celebrations. \u00a0The act of creating and eating\u00a0mochi\u00a0<\/em>brings people together for a shared experience, while also acting as an offering for the town’s, family’s, or individual’s ancestors.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately,\u00a0mochi\u00a0<\/em>has a dark side as well. \u00a0Every year, several people are hospitalized due to their consumption of the sticky treat and often a few die. \u00a0Be careful!<\/p>\n

To learn about how mochi is made visit MoreThingsJapanese.com<\/a><\/p>\n

As a special thank you to all my readers, followers, and friends I have released the first of the Jitsugen Samurai Diaries as a free ebook. Checkout\u00a0The Tanner’s Daughter<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on Smashwords<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted by Benjamin Martin, a 5th year JET in Okinawa, publisher of the blog MoreThingsJapanese.com\u00a0and author of the YA fantasy novel\u00a0Samurai Awakening\u00a0(Tuttle). It’s the New Year, and in Japan that means its time for\u00a0mochi!\u00a0 \u00a0Mochi\u00a0is a Japanese treat made from pounded rice. \u00a0While\u00a0mochi\u00a0is now eaten throughout the year, it’s a favorite tradition during \u00a0the New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[70,369,1],"tags":[134,191,470,785],"class_list":["post-28445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-drink","category-japan-local","category-uncategorized","tag-food","tag-japan","tag-mochi","tag-okinawa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t