rice cake making

[gamera 0]

Have you ever experienced any rice cake making?

I have not done any since I moved into here because I did that in a traditional way with a wood pounder and a stone mortar at December 30th every year when I lived in Osaka.

Just wonder how I can do that in snow, too cold for rice cakes to stay with. Probably they may crack soon after they are made.

Also need a doma ( an earth floor ), can't do it on a tile floor.

Any ideas?

[egglesby 1]

I know nothing about making them.

But I like to eat them.

[frannyo 2]

Is that senbe, gamera? I'd love to be able to make some and play around with them.

[indosnm 0]

Think he's talking bout mochi my friend!

but I could be wrong...

[BagOfCrisps 24]

 Quote:

Probably they may crack soon after they are made

I didn't think mochi cracked. Isn't mochi that weired stretchy rubbery like-nothing-else kinda stuff. Can't even describe it!!!

[bettyx 0]

hey gamera,

 

last year at my hotel in hakuba we pounded some mochi, it was soo good.

 

except: it was done inside in the foyer, on a huge sheet to pick up all the flying bits. of course, the sheet wasn't big enough & i had to try to get all the mochi out of the carpet afterwards (not fun but somewhat worth it as the fresh mochi was amazing).

 

i've done it outside in kansai a few times, lots of fun but the indoor version was still nice & tasted the same. (except it wasn't followed by a yakiniku bbq!)

[gamera 0]

Frannyo, Indosnm is right I talk about mochi, not about senbei. Perhaps both are translated as rice cakes though.

You just make big noise when you eat senbei but if it's fresh mochi, there's no noise because fresh mochi is like some rubber. When you bite one, usually it gets expand. Sometimes hard to cut by your teeth lol......

 

To make mochi, you need to steam some rice for mochi ( not normal rice, special one for mochi)then put it in a mortar (stone or wood). You put some weight on a wood pounder to rub the rice.

When the rice gets sticky, you start hitting it with the wood pounder in a rythm. Someone else adjusts the rice by pulling, putting it upside down, punching at the center etc as it is hit equally. This someone else is called "Nakatori".

The hitter and the nakatori have to harmonize with each other. If they were a bad combo, the Nakatori might be hit at his/her hand which is terrible.

 

BOC, when we make some mochi in that way, the rice is hot enough. But after being made in mochi, it starts cooling down little by little.

In Osaka, it usually didn't crack but if it's in Hakuba I wonder it might do because it's often too cold to make mochi in winter.

 

bettyx, did you make ( hit ) mochi or did nakatori?

[bettyx 0]

i uh.. i passed out paper plates & chopsticks.

 

i had a hit with the big hammer but am quite a weakling, it was purely for 'let's all laugh at the cute gaijin with a big hammer' amusement. i think i may have tossed some water on the rice as well.

 

in english we call mochi-kome 'glutinous rice', right?

 

the hotel interior was fully heated so the rice didn't crack, unfortunately there were a heap of leftovers as most of the guests had already hit the powder when the mochi-making began.

 

plus, the stupid hotel only announced it in japanese, so none of the foreign guests showed up.

[gamera 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by bettyx:
i had a hit with the big hammer

lol bettyx, please don't call a wood pounder "hammer" lol......

Well, you had better toss water as less as possible. Water may make it easy to separete mochi from a wood pounder but if you use water too much, the mochi would go bad quick.

Wish I could do rice cake making inside, but it's tile floor so if we hit the mochi, I wonder the floor broke. If it's concrete maybe okay though.

[Ocean11 0]

You never know what you can do till you try.

Rome was not built in a day.

[bettyx 0]

a wood pounder?

 

oops. but doesn't a wood pounder sounds like something you use to pound wood?

 

i know in cooking we use a mallet for pounding meat, but the mochitsuki one is mega so i don't know.. sorry!

 

ps. if you do decide to make mochi this year, can i come? (if only for humour value)

[gamera 0]

Haha Ocean I don't want to break my house lol

Yeah bettyx, a wood pounder what we call "kine".

It's exactly a mega one but anyway it's used for cooking. In my feeling, "hammer" is something for fieldwork, not for cooking. If you use a "hammer" to cook something, it sounds violent to me and wonder what kind of food you are making lol....

Yep, you can bettyx when we decide.

[Jackie 0]

Hi Gamera

The "kyoiku iinkai" at your local town hall may have a "kine" and the thing you pound it in. If not they'll probably know who does. If you're lucky (rather if you know the right people) you may be able to borrow it.

Good luck

[gamera 0]

Stealth, I have both a stone mortar and a wood pounder. But don't have a mortar holder which should be strong enough. I think I didn't take it to here when I moved into here.

Thanks for your advice.

[Jackie 0]

I see. I hope you can get a mortar holder from somewhere.

[indosnm 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by gamera:
[QB] Frannyo, Indosnm is right I talk about mochi, not about senbei. Perhaps both are translated as rice cakes though.

yeah, but mochi is usually referred to as "mochi" in Oz. One of those things that shouldn't be translated. after all we call sushi, sushi.

[Ocean11 0]

Yeah, translations of Japanese food generally sound disgusting. 'Rice wine' anybody?

 

I'm sure I saw people making mochi outside in Nagano when it was cold...

[kintaro 0]

Rice balls and bean curd soup are a Sunday morning favorite!

 

Anyone know what gobo is in English? I'm seriously inquiring.

[Ocean11 0]

Burdock

[kintaro 0]

Burdock, eh? Thank you.

[bettyx 0]

my favourite translation is konnyaku - devil's tongue, i think it is?

[farquah 0]

Gamera- I think my friend made his own by hollowing out a short log stump so that you can pound it in there. It worked really well.

[indosnm 0]

they farged up with sushi... raw fish is sashimi!

I have seen okonomiyaki described as "japanese pizza" could go on for days!

[gamera 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by bettyx:
my favourite translation is konnyaku - devil's tongue, i think it is?

I think that is a good translation, it expresses it good as is.

 Quote:

by hollowing out a short log stump

Farquah, excuse me but I don't get that part.
Can you say it in another way of saying? Thanks.

[fukdane 2]

I don't get konnyaku at all. It's like eating on a piece of rubber.