Yakimochi is

grilled Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat a ...

broiled Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat a ...

mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ma ...

or pounded

rice cake A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten and are particularly preval ...

. Traditionally, it is prepared using a small charcoal grill, but in modern times a gas grill can be used. During the time of the Autumn Moon, it is traditional to eat fresh yakimochi while sipping

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

and enjoying the view of the full

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

. During the Meiji era, yakimochi was commonly eaten in rural Japan, and historical versions contained not only rice but other grains such as millet,

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, wheat flour, and rice husks. A version from the

Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...

eaten in mountain areas used rice husks and other grain flours to make a dough, stuffed with vegetables and cooked in miso. Yakimochi is also synonymous with 'jealousy', which derived from a love-prediction game. In the game, two mochi are meant to represent a boy and girl, and as they cook the expansion of the mochi indicates who will make the first romantic move.

Variations

Yakimochi can be prepared in several ways: * "Isobeyaki" 磯辺焼き is yakimochi that has been grilled with soy sauce and then wrapped in

nori Nori is a dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, made from species of the red algae genus '' Pyropia'', including ''P. yezonesis'' and '' P. tenera''. It has a strong and distinctive flavor, and is often used to wrap rolls of sushi or ...

seaweed. * "Abekawa yakimochi" is broiled mochi that is soaked in hot water and then covered with a mixture of sugar and

kinako ''Kinako'' ( or ) is roasted soybean flour, a product commonly used in Japanese cuisine. In English, it is usually called "roasted soy flour". More precisely it is "roasted whole soy flour". Usage of the word ''kinako'' appeared in cookbooks fr ...

, a type of bean powder.

References

{{Rice dishes Japanese cuisine Japanese rice dishes