Mochi is a Japanese confection made from a sweet glutinous rice. Traditionally, mochi is made by pounding steamed glutinous rice in a large wooden mortar, called the usu, with a wooden mallet called the kine. Mochi-tsuki is the Japanese name for the traditional ceremony of pounding the steamed glutinous rice. It turns into a dense sticky mound that is shaped and steamed, fried or grilled. The mochi is shaped into a small, round cakes and eaten with roasted soy bean flour, sweet red bean paste, soy sauce dip, or seaweed. Sometimes the mochi is made into ice cream. Mochi is a traditionally eaten for New Year’s food in Japan. I came across this great video of the ceremony, thought it was cool and decided to share. Mochi is very sticky and always comes with a warning not to choke. After every new years, the Japanese media reports how many people die from choking on mochi. The Heimlich maneuver isn’t very effective against the treacherous mochi because it is so sticky. There’s this Japanese comedy called Tampopo where someone is choking on mochi and a vacuum cleaner is used to suck it out – it’s pretty funny. Click here to sign up for Christine's Food for Friends e-newsletter!