Mochi Earrings

Those of you who already know me know that my family pounds mochi every year. It's a big deal. On my dad's side of the family, you will miss Christmas before you miss pounding mochi. It used to be hosted at my grandparents' house up until a few years ago, when it shifted to my parents' house. (Their house is more accessible for the older relatives.)

At any rate, pounding mochi is serious business. It's a real pain in the butt to set up. (My dad spends 2-3 days cleaning and setting up.) And it takes a lot of hands to make things run smoothly. We typically pound over 100 pounds of rice in 5 pound increments. On the morning of mochi pounding, my dad's cousins show up around 7am to start setting up the tents and tables. Someone has to wash the rice. Someone else has to start the fire to steam the rice. When we're ready to start pounding, the first step is to mash the rice with sticks until the whole thing is a mushy blob about the consistency of sticky rice pudding. Then, the guys take turns using a mallet to pound the mochi into a smooth dumpling. When that's done, another cousin carries the steaming mochi to a table where 1-2 women "cut" the mochi with their hands into smaller portions. (That's me in the pink sweater, trying not to cuss and break out into tears as I make my first attempt to "cut." I've had two babies without epidurals, but oh my goodness, that stuff is HOT and sticks to your fingers.)

Those smaller portions are distributed to the rest of the women and girls, who make the actual dumplings. There is a definite hierarchy to the tasks. The matriarch is usually the cutter. When I was a kid, my grandmother did the cutting. She has Parkinson's disease, so my aunty and some of my dad's cousins took over about 15 years ago. Now they're training me and another cousin to do their job. It's a dubious honor. Jamie and I pretty much sweat the whole time no matter how cold it is. But someone's gotta do it and it's our turn to start learning.

When I was a little kid, I used to stand next to my grandmother and she would give me small pieces of fresh mochi. Yummmmmmmmy... So anyway, I know these earrings aren't for everyone. But I do know someone will see them and it will remind them of the days when the whole community or family gathered to respect and observe an old tradition.