March 31, 2006
Squishy Japanese Balls
My company sent me to Tsuruoka, Japan for a business trip. The long work hours (at least 12 hours daily) and the language barrier intensified the stress brought on by the tight schedule. But no matter how bad the situation was and how late we had to work, I could always look forward to the food.
A particularly exciting food find was this package of sesame mochi! I brought back a box for A. We enjoyed it so much that we finished more than half of the mochi before we got around to taking their picture! These beautifully packaged snow white mochi balls are placed in a mixture of ground up black sesame seeds, sugar, and what we suspect to be sea salt. A little wooden pick is provided to roll the mochi around, so as to fully coat them with the sesame mixture, and to convey the delicious treat to your mouth.
As you can see, there were only three or four mochi left when we took the picture. And not long after the picture was taken, these survivor mochi joined their fellow mochi in our stomachs. It is a good thing A and I are going to Japan next week as there are so many different types of mochi in Japan we have yet to try. Before I left Japan, I recall seeing some edamame mochi that I am quite anxious to have the pleasure of making their acquaintence.
Munchies | Posted by J on 03.31.06 at 01:47 AMhi there. Nice blog. I added your blog as a link on mine. I hope you dun mind. Shaz, a food blogger from singapore
Posted by: shaz at March 31, 2006 09:39 AMSo lucky! Getting to visit Japan and eating the food...mmm. I crave the sticky chewiness of mochi right now! How much was a box of them?
Posted by: Tea at April 1, 2006 02:25 PMDo you use cooked cornflour for the dusting? Or can cornflour be eaten raw without cooking?
Thanks!
I was referring to your mung bean mochi. I would like to try your recipe. But do you use cooked cornflour for dusting or can we eat the cornflour raw without cooking?
Thanks!
You guys go to Japan more than I do! I miss goma dango (sesami mochi), hope you're having a great time. Looking forward to hearing about it.
Posted by: keiko at April 10, 2006 12:38 PMShaz, actually A and I are quite flattered!
Tea, I believe the box of sesame seed mochi was 735 Japanese Yen so approximately $6.39 with an exchange rate of 115 yen per dollar. Unfortunately, I was only to find these at Haneda airport.
Jasmine, I believe you can eat uncooked cornstarch. We've talked to the ladies in the manju shop here in downtown SJ and they told us that the light floury coating is actually cornstarch.
Keiko, I was so sad on this recent trip to Japan! I couldn't find any sesame mochi outside of Haneda airport though there were lots of many other types to eat. :)
Posted by: J. at April 11, 2006 05:15 AM2nd entry in recent history with "balls" in the title... okay, /immaturity. :D
Japan is so full of tasty treats... but I'm more partial to things like 100en sushi and ramen/soba stalls. Kaidama! The mochi you guys gifted us with were good, though. :D
Posted by: Eug at April 11, 2006 05:43 PM