Annual Mochitsuki Event

December 15, 2024

1:00pm to 3:00pm at Poughkeepsie Galleria Community Room

Our most popular annual Mochitsuki Event was well attended with almost 40 people, members and non-members. 

Freshly made mochi (rice cake) was served with very authentic sweet and savory toppings such as Anko (sweet red bean paste), Kinako (sweetened soybean flour), Daikon-oroshi (grated daikon radish), Natto (fermented soybeans), and Nori (seaweed) with sweetened soy sauce. 

This year participants were given a bag of freshly made mochi to take home.  Some people were lucky enough to try mochitsuki itself which means pounding steamed sticky rice into rice cake with a wooden usu (mortar) and kine(mallet).

Despite the unfortunate incidents such as losing power from the outlet which delayed the demonstration of mochitsuki, and also we needed to stop providing hot water due to the lack of functional outlets, participants were very patient and understanding. We really appreciated your kindness and compassion.

The dedicated efforts of volunteers who worked this event despite the difficult situation was very much appreciated.

We have to admit that this time, the situation was less than the best due to the problems mentioned above. But we learned a lot from this experience and are determined to make the future events better. I hope you all can come and enjoy this Mochitsuki Event again next year.

Thank you for coming!!

Ryoko Hirano

Mochitsuki event team leader