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is Japanese rice cake made of ''mochigome'', a short-grain japonica glutinous rice. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called ''mochitsuki''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Mochitsuki: A New Year's Tradition )〕 While also eaten year-round, ''mochi'' is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time. ''Mochi'' is called ''môa-chî'' (麻糬 or 𫃎糬) in Taiwan. ''Mochi'' is a multicomponent food consisting of polysaccharides, lipids, protein and water. ''Mochi'' has a heterogeneous structure of amylopectin gel, starch grains and air bubbles. This rice is characterized by its lack of amylose in starch and is derived from short or medium japonica rices. The protein concentration of the rice is a bit higher than normal short-grain rice and the two also differ in amylose content. In mochi rice, the amylose content is negligible which results in the soft gel consistency of mochi. ==Preparation== Traditionally, ''mochi'' was made from whole rice, in a labor-intensive process. The traditional mochi-pounding ceremony in Japan is ''Mochitsuki'': # Polished glutinous rice is soaked overnight and cooked. # The cooked rice is pounded with wooden mallets (''kine'') in a traditional mortar (''usu''). Two people will alternate the work, one pounding and the other turning and wetting the mochi. They must keep a steady rhythm or they may accidentally injure one another with the heavy ''kine''. # The sticky mass is then formed into various shapes (usually a sphere or cube). ''Mochi'' can also be prepared from a flour of sweet rice (''mochiko''). The flour is mixed with water to a sticky opaque white mass that is cooked on the stovetop or in the microwave〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Not-So-Stressful Microwave Mochi )〕 until it becomes elastic and slightly transparent.〔Itoh, Makiko, "(Rice takes prized, symbolic yearend form )", ''Japan Times'', 30 December 2011, p. 14.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mochi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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