mochi

As a third-generation in America, Japanese-American (Sensei) citizen, I've been a little distanced from my Japanese ancestral roots. Still, I did experience much of the culture mainly through the blessings of my grandparents and the childhood I spent inhabiting the space that was once called Japan town (now defunct due to the Salt Palace complex).

One of the traditions I miss now that my grandparents and parents are gone, was the New Year's celebration. Obviously this was more important than the western-culture oriented Christmas celebration. My grandmother (my mother's mother) would always prepare a large feast for our family. I remember vividly the cooked lobster that always stood as the centerpiece of the table (although I have no memories of ever eating that lobster). We would eat sushi (and yes, since I was introduced to sushi early in my childhood, I could never understand what the big deal was when it gained popularity some years ago), specially prepared vegetables, shrimp, crab, rice cakes and a special soup made from pork stock (the name of which now eludes me sadly) that was always one of my favorite annual treats. Mochi was a key ingredient of that pork stock soup.

Mochi is a sort of patty made of a sweet rice paste; rice that has been cooked then put through a grinder several times. Once it has been molded into the patty it "sets up" slightly and retains that shape. (Mochi is not to be confused with Manju, which is often a sweet rice patty covering a sweet bean paste center.) My grandmother used to display three of these mochi stacked upon one another in varying sizes with the largest on the bottom (much like a snowman, but instead of round snow balls, picture flattened disks) and the smallest on top. Capping off the little pile of mochi was a tangerine. I've seen this same arrangement in other Japanese households, and I have a vague memory of it serving as an offering that is placed in front of the little altars (Buddhist?) many Japanese families had on display in their homes.

Mochi can be served in the soup I described or in a bowl of tea or with a combination of sugar and soy sauce (my personal favorite). The mochi is heated in the microwave (it used to be cooked in a frying pan to get it warm) and dipped in the sugar and soy sauce mixture like fries in fry sauce. And yes, I know, I'm eating starch dipped in sugar and liquid salt. There is absolutely no nutritive value whatsoever in this mix, but to me, it is the sweet taste of my childhood. I've even passed my penchant for this treat onto my daughter, who has embraced her Japanese heritage much to the dismay of my blond-haired, blue-eyed wife. She just looks on with bewilderment as we happily devour our mochi (much as she does when we eat anything with curry in it). This year I have fallen behind in my holiday preparations. I have not gone foraging for my annual supply of mochi. I'm hopeful that there is still some available at one of the local Japanese grocery stores. If some of the other traditions of Christmas lag behind or are suspended this year, well that's fine. But I have to have my mochi. This is one aspect of the holidays that is non-negotiable.