There was no cleaning or refurbishing work today. We had a mochi making and eating party instead. Many participants had fun at the party; Sagami Women’s University group, Vietnamese group, U.S. Yokota Air Force Base group, Tama Technical High School group, Ethiopian group, and voluntary members.
Our president, Mr. Morita, prepared 30 kilograms of mochigome (glutinous rice) and a wooden usu (big bowl in which to pound mochi) beforehand. One of our regular member, Ms.Nagamine, was in charge of zoni (kind of soup with vegetables and mochi) and another member, Ms.Okada, brought a set of cooking outfit necessary for making mochi.
Usu and kamado (stove), these are the necessities. First thing to do is to steam mochigome on kamado.
Before pounding, it’s important to push around the steamed mochigome (kozuki in Japanese) to make into smooth and delicious mochi.
Many paricipants tried pounding mochi. Look how happy they are.
We had hot mochi with various tastes; sweet bean paste, soy flour, grated daikon, and soy sauce with scallions and katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings). These were prepared by Ms. Okada and Sagami Women’s Uni group.
We also had zoni for which Ms. Nagamine had worked so hard since the previous day, but, we were so busy tasting these mochi that we forgot to take photos of them(!).
Aiden and Aria, from Yokota Air Force Base, seemed to be enjoying mochi.
Mr. Morita thanked everyone for attending monthly meetings this year.
Thank you, everyone, for joining our activities this year. We look forward to seeing and working with you next year, too.