CHOMEYL thinker to create CHOMEYLNESS among other CHOMEYLIERS

If you would not want to be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing --> Benjamin Franklin

This blog is best viewed with Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome

Monday 7 December 2009

Japanese Rice Cake : Mochi

Mochi (sticky rice cake) is an important food in Japanese culture. This chewy-soft glutinous rice which is pounded into flour (mochi-ko or shiratama-ko), mixed with various ingredients and molded into shapes. Mochi is traditionally eaten during the Japanese New Year, and symbolizes good health and fortune. But its also available on an every-day basis, in a million different forms. Among them:
  • Savory versions which are wrapped in nori seaweed and dipped in soy sauce (shoyu)
  • Served in soup
  • Diced and powered with soy bean flour (Miyako Mochi, Kinako) *sedap gak yang nih*
  • Rolled into balls, and stuck on sticks with a soy sauce coating (dango) *yang ni tak sedap sgt, kelat2 muka nak telan huhuhu*
  • Sweetened, and wrapped around a filling of sweet 'an' bean paste (manju diafuku) *yang ni paling senang jumpa*
(info gathered from here)

Yesterday 06/12/09, we went to a shrine nearby Maebaru to watch the traditional way of cooking the Mochi. It started early in the morning i.e around 8.30a.m *kira early lah sebab weekend kan masa menqada' tidur sengihnampakgigi huhu*. The weather was a little bit cloudy and cold as it reaches 6 °C, nevertheless it didn't stopped us from enjoying the experience of : "The Making of Mochi".


(glutinous rice)

At first, the mochi rice (glutinous rice) are steamed before being put into a huge stone mortar. After that, the steamed mochi rice (glutinous rice) is pounded hardly by using wooden pestles to make mochi. During this beating and pounding process of hitting the steamed rice, it needs a really tough guy to make sure that the mochi is perfectly pounded in order to gain the hard-in-your-hand yet soft-in-your-mouth taste.


(the process of steaming the rice and transferring it to the stone mortar)



I was also given the chance to beat the steamed mochi rice but I quit only after 6 times of hammering those things as the wooden pestles were waaaaayyy too heavy for me plus I'm not that skillful into beating thingy. Perhaps if this task were given to the bouncer of a club or bar, they'll surely can beat those steamed glutinous rice easily. *daripada belasah orang, baik diorang wat mochi..kenyang gak bila makan sengihnampakgigi ngeeee*.


(A-t-qah tunjuk bakat terpendam selaku kaki pukul)

[DSC_0510.jpg]
(kaki pukul yang chomeyl sedang beraksi sengihnampakgigi ceeewah)


After the pounding process were done, the hot mochi is removed from the stone mortar to the knead area by hands. Middle-aged women will dust their hands with more katakuri-ko (potato) starch and divide the mochi into pieces by hands. The hot and sticky mochi is knead to make a flat and round mochi. They will put a piece of anko (red beans) filling on a mochi and wrap the anko by stretching those mochi. Those stretched mochi will then be in oval round shape and ready to be eaten.


(proses menguli dan memasukkan inti)

http://cinnybear.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/mochi-with-red-bean.jpg
(mochi filled with red beans, pic credit from here)


Some of the fresh mochi can also be dusted with kinako (soy bean flour) known as warabi mochi. This kind of mochi is slightly sweet and have better taste for a Kelantanese like me. The kinako had a wonderful flavor and complimented this mochi very well. I took home few pieces of the mochi for hubby & I but turns out that I am the one who ate all of the mochi by myself *dasar isteri makan tak ingat kat suami..nasib baik hubby tak majuk mcm dlm citer batu belah batu bertangkup* sengihnampakgigi ngeh3x.


(proses menyalut tepung)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2704424117_6d5088db84.jpg?v=0
(warabi mochi, pic credit from here)


The taste of mochi is quite similar to tepung gomak in Malaysia and the chewy part is a bit similar to the feeling of eating kuih butir nangka *ore Qelate jah yang kenal kuih ni kot*. Fresh mochi is soft, but it hardens quickly. Prepacked mochi blocks, which are flattened and cut into square pieces or shaped into rounds are available at grocery stores *jadi tak payah susah payah nak jadi kaki pukul kalau tiba2 terasa nak makan sengihnampakgigi eheh*. Hard mochi pieces can be grilled, deep-fried, boiled, and more. Cooked mochi is very sticky, so we have to be careful not to choke it. It's important to take a small bite at a time...maknanya makan takleh gelojoh2, baca bismillah dan kunyahlah perlahan2 sampai kenyang hik3x.

http://69.89.22.144/~eatingo1/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/mochi_plate-540x342.jpg
(pic credit : from here)


Psssttt: pakcik2 kat shrine ni nak suruh orang malaysia pulak masak untuk diorang kat next event..ajar diorang wat dodol lah plak, baru diorang leh apply skill kaki kacau plak sengihnampakgigi ngeeeeeee.

15 words of wisdom & comments:

♥MAMASYAZA♥ said...

mochi tu cam kuih habuk2...tau tak kuih habuk2 cam mana..????

Mummy Aqil said...

wohoo.. ku ke sn ke mari asik jupe mknan jek.. tp mmg nmpk menariks kueh mochi ni...

next year.. kalu nak ajar wat dodol, mau patah tlg blkg ni.. dikau ajar wat puteri mandi ke cek mek molek ke.. slmt skit pgg. hahahah...

fasham said...

wow ...cam sedap jer kuih moci nie....

Emak si Teta dan Balkish, mak Andak Ojan, Hakim, said...

yatie mochi ni macam kuih ku..kuih baba nyonya n di china pun banyak kuih macam ni..sama aje ngan mochi tapi namanya da lupa le pulak..masa pegi gunung fuji ari tu banyak gak beli bawak balik malaysia,
takut tgk yatie buat pounding procees tu..pemukul tu tak patah takut tangan yatie pulak yang patah..ha.ha.

Cool said...

yatie.. ko balik mesia buat kelas masakan ko.. sure aku daftarkan diri!!

aku tgh kuih tu meleleh je.. kalo aku mengandung sure mengidam!

Unknown said...

sedap kuih tu nampaknye :)
akak balik sini kang jgn lupa bawak kan yer..nak gak merasa makanan org2 jepang ni..

Ummu Ammar said...

Good info pasal mochi ni..tq sudi berkongsi ngan kami..hmmm..macam sedap je..

transformed housewife said...

kena wat balik ni nanti. bulih knur cubo tra teh. hehe

nieda said...

mcm kuih baba and nyonya jer..seronok kan pergi negara org bleh belajar masakan dan budaya mereka...

Hanz Jamaludin said...

Yatie..kuih mochi ni ada jual kat M'sia tapi susah nk jumpa & commercialised under Gardenia..me pernah rasa inti kacang dalam dia, rasanyer lekit2 & habuk2 bersalut tepung dia tu kan?

memang sedap!Tapi kalu yang buat cara tradisional camtu mesti lagi sedap kan?!

Nadiah Sidek said...

byknya aktiviti kat sana! best..best..! buat mochi tu under apa tu? ada event khas ke?

Anonymous said...

aaa yummynye makan mochi...kalau gelojoh mesti tercekik..hahaha..

yatie chomeyl said...

mama syaza >> aa tak kenal kuih abuk2..nti blk msia yatie carik

mummy aqil >> eheh btul gak, i sendiri pon x reti nk wat dodol , slalu beli siap jork

faye >> mmg sedap ;)

kak NB >> eheh, mmg berat pon pemukul tu..pukul 6x dh k tercabut engsel tgn eheh

yatie chomeyl said...

jiji >> kalo aku buat kelas, ntah2 ko sorg je yg sudi jd student eheh

huda >> insya ALlah.kalau ada rezeki huda nti akak wat blk bg huda try ;)

ummu Ammar >> u r welcome :)

knur >> okey, nti t bwk balik deh

yatie chomeyl said...

nieda >> kuih baba nyonya tu yatie x pernah try lg

hanz >> owh, i xtahu pon kat msia ada jual..aah,yg pakcik2 ni buat lg sedap dr yg jual kat kedai

nadiah >> event org2 kat shrine, kitorg tumpang jiran je...saje nyebok hehehe

mama miya >> tu la pasal, kena mkn penuh kesopanan & kesusilaan ngeee

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...