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Published: December 30th 2009
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During the holidays, we like to spend time with family and friends here on the island. Every Sunday before New Year’s, we pound mochi with mom’s friends of 20+ years. It’s been a tradition from the ‘80s and sadly, it was announced that this would be our last year. The second generation is getting up in age and it’s now difficult for them to carry on this tradition. Pounding 100 pounds of mochi takes strength and endurance, even though there is a grinder that turns the steamed mochi rice into a rough, pasty consistency. We have a family tradition of eating mochi on New Year’s Day, and we generally decorate the house with a set of two stacked mochi and a tangerine for good luck. We found that the hand-made mochi is so much better than the store-purchased ones. The extra pounding, sweat and dirt that you get from home-made mochi make it so much more delicious. Often, there are 10 to 12 guys that would do the pounding, which would go from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with ‘Jimmy’, our wonderful guide, directing the efforts and making sure that the mochi is the right consistency. Mallets made of the hau
tree are used to pound the mochi, one strike after the next. As the mochi is beaten, the mochi would sometimes fly out of the mochi receptacle (a stone) and on to the cement floor. It would be poho (a waste) to throw it away, so we pick off the dirt and put it back into the receptacle to be pounded again. We laugh about it and tell everyone, "Shhh, no say anyting". Eventually, what goes in will make its way out. What’s a little bit of dirt?
Half way through the pounding, we got the scare of our life when Jimmy was injured. The accident happened so quickly that we weren't quite sure what transpired. We didn't know if the head of the mallet flew off and hit Jimmy or if the mallet was misfired while pounding the mochi. Jimmy was taken to the hospital, and a few stitches later, he was back pounding the mochi. He's truly an amazing man and an inspiration to the younger generation. We always use the phrase, "Gambat'te", which in Japanese means to 'keep trying".
While the men pound the mochi, the women and children cut the mochi to size, shape
it and roll it in potato starch to prevent the mochi from sticking together. Although my parents have been helping for the past 20 years, we've only been doing it for the past three years. It has been something that we look forward to every year when we return to Hawaii. Since we won't be having this any more, we’re hoping to buy the mochi stone and mallets so that we can continue a little piece of the tradition. We can’t have as big a production as we did in the past, but it’s sad to see the tradition die.
Later that day, we met new friends (Neenz (from McKinley High School - yay - go Tigers!), Ed, Zen, Noe, Jayden, Chelsea and Jill) from ‘Grilled Cornbread,’ the largest social media group in Hawaii. We love the food in Hawaii, so Joseph asked Neenz if she could bring some spam musubi for us to eat. She brought that, along with a Macadamia Nut Cream Pie from Ted's and some Hawaiian Sun drinks. The food was delicious (‘ono’) and we had a wonderful time visiting with everyone. We know that the partnership with them will bring a lifelong friendship
For our first gathering, we met at Ala Moana Beach and Park, which Neenz suggested and which conjured up many fond memories for me. Back in the good ‘ole days, we had kenjinkai picnics with families from the same prefecture as my dad’s. As children, we were so happy to be able to win prizes by running the ‘geta’ (double slipper) race and many different individual and relay races. Our parents used to love the vegetable picking grab, where they’d scatter vegetables and rice and have to retrieve as much of it as they could possibly hold. Our families would prepare a lot of food, including barbecue beef and chicken, musubi, manapua, watermelon, and macaroni salad, that we’d have for lunch and dinner. Shaved ice would be available all day and this was a special treat for us all. Later in the day, we’d all go to the beach and swim to the reef, where we’d pick pipipi (periwinkle) off the rocks. We’d go back to the picnic area and broil it on the grill and eat it for dinner. These were some very special times and we’d look forward to this gathering every year.
We took a few
Grinding the Mochi Rice
into a smooth pasty consistency friends around the island and stopped at the Pali Lookout, Chinaman’s Hat, which from the photo, you’ll know why. We also stopped at Sunset Beach and saw the waves pounding the sands. It’s amazing how surfers are able to negotiate the 30-foot walls. Our last stop before heading back to the south shore was Matsumoto’s Shaved Ice. Because of its reputation, the lines were extremely long, with the overflow going to Aoki’s, the shaved ice stand next door. Although the shaved ice was good, there are a lot of great shaved ice places on the island.
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YangtzeCruises
Stelon Li
I love the sea
Hi Anne, The photos are so beautiful! Thanks!