Eat it plain - right out of the usu [mortar] and freshly rolled! Dip it in daikon oroshi (grated Japanese radish) and shoyu (soya sauce). For variations, add chopped green onions or katsuobushi (dried, grated bonito [fish-stock] flakes). Yaki nori (dried sheets of seaweed). Dip the mochi into shoyu, wrap it in a piece of nori and heat it until the nori is cooked. With anko (sweetened, cooked azuki beans) inside of the mochi, or a hot broth of anko with bits of mochi dropped in it, whick is called oshiruko. Raisin mochi. Add a handful of raisins to the batch while it is being pounded. Excellent later when defrosted and either toasted in the broiler or microwaved. Toasted mochi, dip in shoyu and cover with ajinomoto (MSG). [What kind of idiot uses MSG?! That stuff is bad!] Mix bite-sized pieces in natto (fermented soybeans) with shoyu and wasabi (Japanese horseradish) or karashi (Japanese yellow mustard). Mix bite-sized pieces in tororo imo (grated Japanese yam), mix with a little powdered dashi (soup stock) and shoyu. Sprinkle bits of shredded nori on top. Put in with hot noodles. It's called chikara udon Deep fry slices of mochi and dip in goma (roasted sesame seeds). Dip mochi into shoyu and fresh grated shoga (ginger). Cover mochi with ochazuke mix and Japanese green tea. Mame [bean] mochi: Rinse and soak juromame (black beans) overnight (2 cups [473ml] to 3 pounds [1.4kg] of mochigome [mochi rice]). Add them to mochi as it is being ground in the machine (or pounded). Stop before all of the beans are smashed. Place mochi on a surface, sprinkle with mochiko (rice flour). Shape into a loaf and leave overnight. The next day, slice into pieces, and freeze. To eat, heat in a covered heavy frying pan until toasted and soft. Eat as is, or sprinkled with sugar. Roasted goma [sesame seeds] grated in a suribachi (Japanese grinding bowl with wooden pestle). Add to taste: freshly grated katsuobushi (grated dried fish), daikon orishi (grated white radish), shoyu and sugar. Pound in grated sato-imo (sweet potato). Mix with shoyu, konbu (kelp), natto and sugar. Mochi-okonomi-yaki: arrange thin slices of michi on top fo regular okonomik-yaki (Japanese omelette). When the okonomi-yaki is done underneath, flip it over. When the mochi is done, so is dinner. Sauteed mochi: saute slices of mochi along with your meat and serve with yakiniku sauce. Butter-fried mochi: fry slices of mochi in butter just as you would meat or fish. 1-20 Obtained from: www.jcmn.ca The Japanese Canadian National Museum & Archives Society Vancouver, Canada Sources: "What's Your Favorite Way to Eat Mochi?" compiled by Chris Aihara and Evelyn Yoshimura; Sam Oyama; VJLS and Japanese Hall Gakko News, No. 32, Jan. 1995. Mochi fondue: place defrosted cubes of mochi on skewers and serve as an ingredient in your fondue.