Mochi Master Making Mochi

Ginger often bought dango at Dan's dango shop but she always wondered how it was made, they looked to the mochi making master and approached them with good intentions "Huh? you want to learn how to make mochi?" Dan while manning the store, Shibani of course was asleep in the corner on his pile so he is doing his best being Shibani. "Well, if you pay a fee I suppose i can let you learn since you do buy an awful lot of dango, you sure you're not a gluttony bun in disguise?" he joked dryly making Ginger blush a little. She can't help it! Her hubby back home loved everything and anything she fed him, she was starting to get shy about the thought of her husband back home but they snapped back to attention as they agreed to pay the course fee to learn how to make some mochi.

Dan informed them that payment was up front and lessons will start right away "Since the mochi will be sold later this day we'll be making a heap of it, I'll let you pick the flavor too but nothing outlandish though you'll have to pick from the list i have" He said with a proud little huff before, Ginger looked over the items carefully and saw there were ingredients listed by each mochi flavor. Her ears perked up a little and twitched back down after seeing the words edible glitter [can glitter be edible?] she thought curiously, how can that be? it's glitter! she works with it so she knows how not edible its but if this is what it says then this one!

"The glittery mochi? Ok then lets start working" first they have to learn how mochi is made and Dan loaded up a bunch of soaked and steamed sticky rice that is specifically used for mochi making and began their lesson right away telling them they don't pound the treat right away like most would think, the kneading of it is most important to give it that distinct mouth feel. They use the mochi hammer to knead it carefully while turning it over repeatedly so it all gets a good work out and after ten minutes they can start pounding.

Dan explained after the kneading they will sprinkle the edible glitter in to give it it's flavor which excited Ginger [Whoa, it looks tasty but most glitter does but what makes this one edible?] as if reading her mind Dan answered her question "The glitter is made safe to eat by being made of food ingredients and food safe dyes" [whoa that's amazing! I wonder what hubby will think about it!] She thought with glee at ready to drop the information on him but now it's time to pound mochi! Holding the hammer up high they waited till Dan sprinkled in the right amount of flavoring, which is a secret mix he won't reveal.

After it was added she swung the hammer down with a little bunny oomph, the hammer was actually heavier than it looked and swinging it down almost made her fall over as they tried to raise it back up. Ginger almost fell over trying to do so but they managed to stay upright "Ok i know it will seem bad or scary but you gotta swing it while my hand is still kind of in the bowl" That was terrifying as the pink bunny nodded and she started pounding the mochi again while Dan talked about how they have to repeatedly fold the sticky mashed rice or else everything will be all lumpy and not taste too well. Ginger watched him carefully fold in and sprinkle the lump of mashed rice with after every mallet smash but how much longer must she pound this? [Its getting kind of tiring to keep doing this] but no sooner she thought that then the mochi master himself stopped her.

He looked over the product and gave a nod "Not bad for a first timer, it's good enough to sell" they said as he began to take the mochi up with both hands and plop it right down on the kitchen counter now informing Ginger that they will have to put in some filling and shape them, after that they're good to box and sell off. "Now we only used a small portion of the edible glitter, most of it goes into the filling and no you can't eat any of it" she sheepishly looked at the floor having read her mind.

First a demonstration of how to fill it, potato flour is sprinkled on the board then grabbing a bit of mochi and measured it with his mochi ruler just to make sure it's exactly as big as he usually makes it and then shows them to use the tiny spoon to scoop the filling and put a spoonful into it before wrapping it, his little bunny hands shaped it carefully into a ball without leaking any of the insides on the outside leaving it a nice and clean ball of mochi.

"Ok now you" Ginger nodded and got a handful of mochi then did the same as him to measure out the size before sprinkling with starch then just a single spoonful of- [uh oh] she somehow scooped more than she meant to even with it's small size. Well it shouldn't be too bad right? Ginger's paws started shaping it like he did but she couldn't stop the filling from spilling out making her part of the counter messy but at least half the inside was kept actually in. "You don't have to try and match my speed try again but slower" they said while working on his half of the mochi while the pink bunny kept trying to make it semi presentable but it was not use, her paws were not used to any of the motions at all.

"Alright all done? lets see how you did" Dan looked at her creations and saw that the few she did were all misshapen but cleaner now more or less "You can take those home" He is not selling messy mochi as it would hurt his pride as a craftsmen and Ginger thanked him for the lessons, well she did pay for it so it's not like he lost out on anything especially since he got free labor out of it as well for what he needed later on. He was thinking of a flash sale as he told her she can go now and handed her a box to put away her treats in, Ginger thanked him again before leaving with the nicely wrapped goods happily humming hoping her husband will like the hand made treats [Who am I kidding, he loves anything I give him! what a sap!] she thought with love while making her way home.