Mochi is a staple of the Japanese New Year menu. I enjoy eating and making mochi. If I'm in a rush, then I do buy pre-made mochi. I'm talking about the plain blocks of mochi, not the sweet filled treats. Now, I love the sweet filled, and ice cream filled mochi treats too, but I'm talking about making just plain mochi.

The traditional way of making mochi, called Mochitsuki (making mochi) involves two people pounding the steamed mochi dough with large wooden mallets in a big stone or wooden bowl. This is wonderful, but I do not have any of those tools or the time, so I make my mochi using the microwave. You will need a blender, a large microwaveable safe bowl, a strong spoon, a spatula, saran wrap, large plate, mochigome (glutinous rice), mochiko (sweet rice flour) and water.

This is the mochigome rice (glutinous rice) I use. Measure out what you need and give it a rinse.

This is the mochiko (sweet rice flour) I like and is easy to buy where I live. You can also use potato starch if you can't find mochiko. This will be used to dust the plate, mochi dough and your hands to prevent the mochi dough from sticking.

Put the rice into a large microwaveable bowl along with the water. Cover with saran wrap and let it sit on the countertop overnight. I like to have mine sit for about 12 to 14 hours.

Here is what it should look like after it has been soaking overnight.

Pour the water and rice from the bowl into a blender and blend until you get a smooth liquid.

Here is what the rice in the blender looks like as it is blending. Sometimes you may have to stop the blender and scrap down the sides as small grains of rice sometimes get stuck on the side.

Pour the blended mixture back into your microwaveable bowl and heat in the microwave for a minute.

Then carefully remove the bowl and give it a stir. The bowl will be very hot and there will be steam, so do take care!

Here is what it looks like after the first mixing.

Continue microwaving for a minute and stirring for about 6 to 8 minutes. The time will depend on how powerful your microwave is. It will get harder to stir the mixture as it cooks. It will get quite sticky. I do my best to give it a stir and pound it with my spoon too.

Here is what the final cooked and mixed mochi should look like.

When it is cooked remove from the microwave and let sit a minute to cool off slightly. You still want the mixture warm, but not so hot that it will burn your hands. Cover a plate with saran wrap and dust with some mochiko.

Scrape the cooked warm mochi dough onto the plate and dust lightly with mochiko flour.

Flatten the dough with your hands.

It is a good idea to soak the bowl immediately. It is very sticky and needs plenty of hot water and soap to clean.

Now I prefer to use a scissor to first cut the mochi dough into strips.

Then cut into small squares. You could use them just like this, or make into any shape you like. If I am making Kagami mochi then I make one large and one medium ball shape.

When we are going to use the mochi in different recipes, I like to roll the pieces into small ball shapes. Let them cool on another saran wrapped plate. You can eat them warm or put them in a tupperware container and in the fridge to use later.

If I'm going to put a filling such as sweet red bean paste inside the mochi, I do it while the mochi dough is still warm. Just flatten the little balls into a round circle and add the filling and close the mochi dough around it.

Warning! Do be careful with mochi - it is a choking hazard if you eat and swallow too much in one mouthful.

Gluten-Free Mochi Recipe

Ingredients

• 250 cc mochigome also called glutinous rice or mochi rice.
• 200 cc water
• 1 - 2 Tablespoons mochiko (mochi flour) or rice flour

Directions

1. Rinse the rice and put the mochigome rice and water in a bowl and cover with saran wrap and soak overnight. About 12 to 14 hours.
2. Next day blend the mochigome rice and water until well combined and the rice is well ground.
3. Pour the mixture into a large microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 10 minutes. Stopping about every 1-2 minutes to give the mixture a good stir.
4. After about 6-8 minutes the mixture should have turned from white to a translucent-like yellowish sticky mixture. Remove from microwave and stir well for about 2 minutes.
5. Let cool until it is still warm ,but you can touch it. Scrap the mixture onto a saran wrapped plate that has been dusted with about 1 tablespoon of mochi flour or rice flour.
6. Dust your hands with mochiko or rice flour. Then start dividing into small balls. I usually press the main ball down to about 1/2" thick and then cut into small squares. Then roll in your hands to make small balls and put on another saran wrapped plate to cool.
7. You can eat it as is or put in an airtight container for later.
8. Can be eaten toasted with kiniko (roasted soybean flour) mixed with sugar or soya sauce and sugar.Also can use untoasted in ozoni a Japanese New Year soup or stuffed with red bean paste.

On New Year's Day we have Ozoni soup for breakfast. Actually we like to eat it at every meal that day. We have a clear ozoni with toasted mochi, chicken, some type of seafood, carrot and citrus skin. Normally you would use yuzu, a type of Japanese citrus fruit, but I can't find it here so I use lemon or orange peel. In Kyoto, Japan the mochi is made with white miso and is very delicious also.

I love grilled mochi. You can do it on the stovetop if you have a gas stove, or in a toaster oven or in a frying pan.

One way to eat the grilled mochi is with a sugar and gluten-free soya sauce mix. We just mix the sauce in a bowl and dip the mochi in it.

It is good just plain with the sweet sauce or wrapped in a small piece of nori.

Another way to eat mochi is to dip the warm mochi balls in kinako. Kinako is a roasted soybean flour that you can find at Asian Food stores. It has a light nutty flavour and goes well with the chewy rice cake.

As always be careful eating the mochi as it does cause choking deaths among some older people in Japan every year. It is very chewy and if you eat to big a bite or too quickly you can find it in your mouth and stretching down your throat at the same time.

Do you make your own mochi? What is your recipe and technique? Do you like eating mochi? What recipes do you use it in.

Warning! Do be careful with mochi - it is a choking hazard if you eat and swallow too much in one mouthful.

Note: These are my personal experiences and opinions. Always seek out a medical opinion for medical concerns.