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Mochi, The main ingredient for all types of zoni, is made with steamed and pounded mochi rice, a particularly sweet and glutinous variety. Mochi was introduced into Japan from Southeast Asia in prehistoric times, along with rice cultivation. The ancient Japanese were an agricultural people who worshiped nature and held seasonal festivals to pray for and celebrate bountiful harvests. Back then, rice was not the staple it is today, but a special food reserved for extraordinary events such as festivals and religious rituals, and it was set apart from ordinary daily fare. (The extraordinary and ordinary, referred to as hare and ke, are important defining concepts permeating all of Japanese culture)
Packed with the rich good taste of rice, mochi was for a long time thought to be imbued with the spirits of the gods of agriculture and the ancestors and was therefore sacred. Traditionally, mochi is shaped by hand into rounds, the round shape signifying harmony and the white color, purity. Prior to the start of the new year, an important annual event in Japanese culture, mochi is pounded and shaped into rounds to be offered to the gods at the household alter on New Year’s eve. The same mochi is eaten in zoni on New Year’s Day in a symbolic ingesting of the gods’ spiritual power.
Mochi is an excellent and high-nutrition food. It is easy to digest, converts quickly to energy, and is full of essential proteins and carbohydrates, which is why Japanese marathon runners eat mochi before their races. Mochi offers both physical and spiritual sustenance. The Japanese of ages past must surely have found a steaming hot bowl of zoni with mochi and a savory assortment of other ingredients especially delicious and warming on a cold New Year’s morning. |
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| A variety of zoni from around Japan: zoni in localities where seafood is plentiful tends to feature grilled fish, roe, shrimp and shellfish, while zoni in places that produce sugar, for instance, is likely to be sweet with the inclusion of malt syrup in the mochi. (Credit: HAGA LIBRARY) |
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