So, today there was a bazaar at my daughter’s elementary school and one event was making mochi or pounded glutinous rice cakes.Above you can see the mallets soaking in water and two stone basins in which the rice is pounded.

Rice steams in these boxes stacked upon a tank of water that is being heated by a propane burner. Each box contains enough rice to make one big blob of mochi.

When the rice is added to the basin, people first mash it with giant mallets until most of the rice pieces are mashed into one big blob. The rice used is not the regular rice used for eating things like sushi or other everyday foods. Mochi rice or glutinous rice is stickier and designed for this purpose.

Eventually the rice is deemed ready to be pounded by the mallets. Usually there is a rhythm among the pounders which is usually circular. Each pounder takes a ‘whack’ with their mallet, and then another person grabs the blog and turns it slightly. Over time the entire blog is whacked until the individual pieces of rice become one unified blog of mochi. The texture is like a giant piece of cheese that is melting.

Mochi is sticky stuff, and turning it over is difficult. The texture is becoming smooth and shiny.

Eventually the mochi pounding is finished and the big piece / blob of mochi is taken away to be formed into smaller pieces. The pounders now get a breather while the basin is cleaned out and new rice is added.

The one big piece of mochi soon becomes many smaller pieces. The mochi is covered with some powdered starch to make it easier to handle.

The individual pieces can be eaten as is, with soy sauce, with soy sauce and sugar, in soup (miso-based or soy sauce based) or with sweet bean paste.Freshly made, the texture of mochi is like melted cheese, but not as soft. It tastes of rice and is good with many things. Heated up, the mochi melts even more but becomes even stickier.One of my favourite ways to eat mochi is in lasagna, using mochi instead of noodles. Should you ever find cakes of mochi in the supermarket (outside of Japan), try cutting the cakes into thinner slices and using them in your favourite lasagna recipe. You will not be able to cut it like regular lasagna, but you will enjoy the taste and texture.This year’s mochi making is finished for me, and now it is time to rest up. Enjoy your mochi.