Mochi pounding

Saturday, we participated in a Japanese New Year tradition: mochi pounding. Mochi is a rice cake.


Sweet rice is steamed, then pounded with a huge wood hammer in a large wooden bucket that looks a bit like a hollowed-out stump.


It was amazing to watch the perfect timing of the man who pounded with the hammer and the woman who turned the mochi and added water between hammer strokes.



The crowd shouted out encouragement at each stroke of the mallet.

After awhile, they invited the spectators to help with the pounding, so the kids joined in. Tommy and Patrick exhibited some excellent pounding skill.


It's harder than it looks.

That hammer is heavy!


John helped, too.


When the pounding is finished, the mochi is made into a large ball,



coated in rice flour, stretched, and rolled flat,


then cut into rectangles.


Sometimes it is made into a ball or wrapped around a bamboo stick to make a tube. Mochi can be fried or boiled to hold the cakes together. Often it is added to a special New Year soup called zoni. Zoni was the soup the sisters made for us at Akita a couple of weeks ago. It is full of beautifully chopped vegetables and sometimes chicken or another meat: warm and satisfying.

Despite the cold and snow (it was -4 C/24 F with a brisk wind), the mochi pounding took place outside. Inside the nursing home, they were serving delicious zoni. We went in for a few minutes to visit.

Bundled up in her pink bunting, Meghan charmed residents and visitors alike. It was nice that she got to exhibit her best skill, too. :-)