Saturday the dojo got together for a small party called the Omochi. Basically what its all about is doing new and fun things with rice. I'll let the pictures tell the tale.
Chinatsu and Chihiro are here mixing soy flour with a kind of sugar to go with the rice once its ready.
This is called the Mochi-ski. Basically what you are watching a large bowl full of rice being hit with a large hammer until it turns into a paste like pizza dough. Once we are done taking our frustrations out on the rice, (and really we eat so much rice here who can blame us for wanting to beat some rice into a paste) the rice, now transformed into mochi, is transported out and interesting little dishes are made from it.
Below you can see Sensei and Riintaro teaming up on the rice bowl. I asked Sensei where this tradition came from and he just replied that its a traditional Japanese thing.
Below you can see the end product. That is a ball of rice covered in soy flour and sugar. Actually it was kinda nice tasting. I had 3 pieces myself, but got full pretty fast. New food do that to you sometimes. I was asked if I wanted to take some home. I answered no which I guess was a mistake cause they thought I didnt like it, which I actually did.
So there you have it readers. The Rice punch, or Omochi. Only in Japan.
