Conquer Asia

The mochi is a well known Japanese rice cake which is composed of glutinous rice that is pounded into paste and is molded into various shapes. In the country, the mochi is created in a ceremony which is known as mochitsuki.

Mochi is also known as the traditional food for the Japanese New Year. It is likened to the Chinese rice cake which is the nian gao. In the Philippines, it is similar to palitao—coated with sesame seeds and grated coconut.

There are a lot of variations in making use of the mochi. Some people make small balls of ice cream which are then wrapped inside a mochi covering to be able to produce a mochi ice cream. There is also the oshruko which is a sweet azuki bean soup mixed with some pieces of mochi. In New Year, the various dishes which use mochi are the Kagami mochi, zoni soup and kinako.

mochi, japan, food