Mochi

Mochi mochi mochi. Recently I got the two big mochi recipe books: Hawaii’s Best Mochi Recipies and Unbearably Good! Mochi Lovers’ Cookbook. But so far I haven’t found any savory dishes listed which use mochi, only different ways to make dessert mochi.

Mochi melts like cheese, but since it is only rice and water, there is no fat. The rice mochi is made from is soft and sweeter than normal white rice. I had it when my friends Kazue and Kaori treated me and Aaron to okonomiyaki in Tokyo. We also had an appetizer at a nicer restaurant which were kind of like taquitos, but with more Japanese ingredients and mochi instead of cheese. I don’t know what it was called or how it was made. Yet.

While surfing I stumbled onto Kudzu Mochi. Insane! Apparently you can make a unrefined “black sugar” from “kudzu,” a plant which people in the South have grown to love due to its use as a ground cover in the 1930’s ( the vine is even more horrible than ivy and can destroy buildings). But you CAN’T BUY this black sugar due to intense sugar industry lobbying. Bizarre.