Mochi, a traditional Japanese rice cake, has been a mainstay of Japanese culture for thousands of years. Their association with New Year celebrations goes as far back as The Tale of Genji, the first novel in history.
It turns out that making mochi involves a lot of slapping, yelling, and pounding with a mallet. It's pretty delightful to watch:
These days, mochi pounding (or mochitsuki) is mostly ceremonial. Electronic mochi makers are as common as rice cookers. The Nara Prefecture in southern Japan is the traditional home to mochitsuki masters, but if you can't get there, you can slap your rice cooker very quickly at home for similar results.
David Grossman is a staff writer for PopularMechanics.com. He's previously written for The Verge, Rolling Stone, The New Republic and several other publications. He's based out of Brooklyn.
