Sunday, December 20, 2009-

I don’t know what’s more telling about today: A) I learned how to make different kinds of Japanese mochi rice cakes, or B) I learned four or five different ways to tell people I’m exhausted in Japanese!

Because the truth is, I’m wiped! It was so much fun to spend all day with Miki and her family, the Miyazaki’s (they have been like a second host family to me, and Miki has surely been the most inviting person I’ve met here in Nakagawa), helping to make EIGHT full batches of rice cakes, also known as mochi, in front of their home. The day started at 7 am and I am just getting back home now at 6 pm. It was one full day, but I had a great time. Making mochi with your family is one of the great traditions for Japanese New Year so it was very nice to be included in the Miyazaki’s. Plus we certainly got our fill of mochi before heading home (laden with even more mochi…)

PS do you like my fancy apron? Miki bought it for me, and then immediately told me (in her best boss voice [which was still her laughing at me]) "GET TO WORK!!" Here are a couple pictures from the day...

The Mochi "stump" as I liked to think of it, is really a hollowed out tree that is used to pound rice into a sticky Japanese rice cake. Today we were working beside the Miyazaki's house

Miki and I workin' on the mochi

These mallets were literally 20-30 pounds, so after a while it really wore you out

In the beginning the rice looks a little something like this. It has soaked in water for a long time, steamed for a while, and mixed together in "the stump"

But after it has been beaten a while, it looks more like this. This mochi still has a little way to go, but you get the idea. It's super sticky and hot! A real treat

Some of our finished product. Mochi in sweet bean powder

The kind above was plain mochi, but we also made the Miyazaki's favorite "Tochigi Specialty Mochi." It included:

Peanuts

Plus: Ao Nori (seaweed), white sesame, and salt

Here's Yuka (our friend) and Miki with just some of the finished mochi. We literally made enough to feed all of Nakagawa!