A Lesson in Mochi Making

Sariel stands outside of Dan’s Dangos glancing at her watch for a moment, tail swaying lightly behind her as she steps inside, looking around as the bell over the door rings. 

“Hello? Dan?” Sariel called, making her way through the shop, stopping at the display cases and glancing at all the available dango that she might buy to munch on later, the sound of footsteps catching her attention.

“If you’re here to buy mochi you’re early. I haven’t opened the shop yet.” Dan says as he stands in the doorway, mochi hammer resting upon his shoulder.

“That’s not why I came. Well kind of but not really.” Sariel says, sighing softly as she takes a deep breath. “I was wondering if you could teach me how to make mochi since you taught me how to make dango. I at least remember seeing something online about mochi making classes being available too.” She says, wringing her hands as she glances at him.

Dan glances at the nearby clock on the wall before returning his attention to Sariel, “Sure. I’m pretty sure we have enough time to get at least one lesson in.” He says, beckoning her to follow him. “Do you have an idea about which mochi you want to learn how to make or should I pick the easiest one?” He asks curiously, leading her towards the back of the building.

“I was thinking about making the easiest one first if that’s okay. Or maybe the one with the fewest ingredients?” Sariel replied, tapping her chin in thought. Was there mochi that took less ingredients than any others?

Dan hummed, “I believe that milk mochi is the easiest one to make for a beginner since it’s just milk and rice powder.” He says, standing in front of a large metal bowl and handing the mochi hammer to Sariel. “Since I was already in the process of making some before you arrived, you can take over for me.” He tells her.

Sariel blinks a few times and holds the hammer in her hands, looking it over, noticing that some flecks of rice were already on it. “Are you sure? I don’t wanna mess it up.” She says, frowning.

“I’m sure.” Dan replied,  checking the bowl of rice before heading into the house and grabbing a carton of milk, carefully pouring some of it into the bowl; stepping behind Sariel reaching out and gently gripping her hands around the hammer, pressing his chest against her back, making the poor girl instantly start blushing. “Here, grip the hammer like this, pull it back as far as you can without toppling over, then hit the rice as hard as you can.” He instructed, stepping back and carefully pulling her with him, adjusting the position of her hands.

Sariel blinked a few times, her cheeks warm as she nodded firmly, taking a deep breath and following Dan’s instructions, bringing the hammer down and hitting the rice as hard as she could, making a bit of it fly out and hit the side of the bowl. 

“Oh no! Was the rice supposed to do that?!” Sariel exclaimed, looking at Dan as she held the hammer close to her chest, looking around the edges of the bowl. 

Dan chuckled, scanning the area around the bowl, not seeing much rice on the ground. “Yes. It’s expected that at least some of the rice is flung out of the bowl, as long as it’s not all of the rice.” He replies. “Now, keep pounding it until the rice absorbs all of the milk.” He instructed.

Sariel stares into the large metal bowl of rice then nods firmly, gripping the hammer like Dan had shown her, pulling it back then hitting the rice as hard as she could.

It took a while for the rice to turn into a powder and absorb the milk, turning it into a really fine dough after pounding it a few more times. By the time Sariel was done, she was a bit winded and her arms hurt.

“Murmur Dan, I don’t know how you manage to pound so much mochi a day and your arms don’t hurt.” Sariel says, rubbing her arms as she frowns. She was going to need a massage after this for sure. 

“Trust me. It hurt like hells the first time I pounded mochi. You just get used to it over time.” Dan says, beckoning Sariel to follow him as he carries the bowl into the house, setting it on the counter before grabbing a large, wooden cutting board.

“Now there’s one more step after pounding the mochi.” Dan began, “Put some rice powder on your hands so the mochi doesn’t stick, then grab a handful of mochi and roll it into a ball.” He instructed, demonstrating what he said, tail swishing back and forth behind him.

Sariel watched Dan closely and nodded, following his instructions and rolling the mochi in her dusted hands into a ball. “Like this?” She asked curiously, showing Dan her mochi ball. It looked more like an oval than a circle but she felt like she did a decent enough job at it.

Dan looked the mochi ball over and smiled. “Exactly like that. As you’re rolling it in your hands, make sure there aren’t any air pockets left.” He replied, watching Sariel closely, giving her a few tips about how to make it perfectly round instead of a lopsided oval.