I've been a little stressed lately due to college-related activities. So to get over it, I find making sweet treats very therapeutic. Tonight (or today depending on when you are reading this) I've made Mochi Ice Cream with fruits. Yes, I had to make sure this was a healthy dessert to make myself feel better. Don't judge. Anyway, Mochi has become largely popular over the past few years, but it has been around for quite some time in Asia. For those of you who haven't heard what Mochi is, it's a Japanese rice cake made by pounding glutinous rice into a paste and molding it into various shapes. No one knows when Mochi came about, but it is believed to have originated in China. Around the Heian Period in Japan (794-1185), mochi was solely made for the New Year celebratory festivities. It became such a popular dish that in the later centuries, Mochi was reserved as an imperial offering at religious ceremonies. Nowadays we call this glutinous rice cake as "mochi", but back in the 1070s a journal documented the rice cake as "mochii". Why did people start dropping the extra "i" in the name? Honestly, I can't tell you. Perhaps we just got lazy? Let me know if you find out...but I digress. There have been many theories behind the dessert's nomenclature. One of the origins is that it came from the word "motsu" meaning "to hold or have", which could indicate why the dessert was served only during special occasions. It signified that the dessert was given by God. Another claims that the name came from the word "mochizuki", which means "full moon". A third suggestion comes from the west and southwestern islands of Japan where people refer to the rice cake as "muchimi", which means "sticky". Well then. The more you know.
