Mochi Pounding

Every Saturday or Sunday before New Year's, some Japanese families in Hawaii partake in mochitsuki, or traditional mochi pounding.

We are not one of those few families. Except for this year.

My Aunty decided to host the mochi pounding at her house in Makawao, in the "upcountry" section of east Maui. And it's country for a reason. Houses are more few and far between here, and there's horses/cows/goats/wild chickens in many of the open spaces.

This is actually only the third time I've actually seen/participated in mochi pounding...and probably the last time for quite a while because it's just so much work. You have to soak the rice overnight and wake up early in the morning to start the fire. And not to mention the pounding.



Some of the mochi pounding tools.



The mochi rice cooking over the fire. The pot on the right is boiling water, and our starter fire for the rice. I originally thought my uncle was smoking meat in the box...I was briefly excited.



We had to collect the firewood as well. Keawe, in this case...the good stuff.



My dad pounding mochi. When you get to this stage of the pounding, someone has to flip the mochi with their hand after each pound. I called my dad the Kobe Bryant of mochi pounding because he wouldn't pass the mallet. But, in his defense, he's has 30 years of experience, and he as probably the best one there. So I guess I wouldn't pass the mallet either.

The women and children were ushered indoors for mochi making. I was fired in my last term because for eating too much. This year, my aunty bought donuts and poke (marinated ahi or octopus) for breakfast, so I was well fed. I only ate 3 mochi this year...1 of which people knew about.



Potato starch is key to prevent sticking. I was tempted to do a chalk toss.



Cutting the mochi to be formed.



Ready for filling! You have to pull the edges of the mochi to flatten it...kinda like pizza dough.



The red/brown stuff is the sweetened azuki bean filling. You need to pinch the sides up and twist and rotate in your palm to smooth out the top.



My first mochi of the day. I got better with practice.

Overall, a good time. But of course, my favorite part was the lunch. We had noodles, warabi (fern shoots), teriyaki pork, won ton, portugese bean soup, chicken soup...and!!! Pineapple chiffon cake! I wish I had two pieces.