Preparing hard mochi at home

i already know how to prepare Daifuku and Dango, but how to make Hard Mochi? i mean, the one hard that you put in microwave or on a grill and become tender.. is it possible to prepare at home , the version already hard that i'll have to grill?

I'm assuming that you make daifuku and dango from cooked mochiko (rice flour)? Mochi is different in that it is usually made of pounded glutenous rice, and the hard type is mochi that has been dried for storage. I'm not sure that it would come out the same if you made if from just mochiko flour. In anycase, we tend to store freshly made mochi (the pounded type) in the freezer instead of drying it as it has a tendency to mold if not dried correctly.

you should steam or boil it.
you can do it by microwave.
please add some water.

By the way, if you are not intending to store it (the purpose of drying it in the first place), then skip the drying phase and eat it fresh (grilled or microwaved if you like). The taste and consistency are far superior to the dried and packaged variety.

yeah, i use Glutinous rice flour, wich should be like Mochiko, i cannot find other type, i live in Italy so it is har to find asian groceries..

Now you got a reason to come back to Japan in the NY time frame when the traditionally & freshly pounded mochi is made from steamed short grained mochi rice, rhythmically pounding, pulling & rolling in hand with a lot of flours. You see often in the country side or right in the Tokyo as I happened to join in the neighborhood ritual in December at a Ichigaya shrine. Afterward, kinako mochi, zenzai, sake, etc. were given away free to anybody around.
As said the hard mochi is made by naturally drying so the NY celebration bf is made by cutting & grilling for the delicious Ozoni soup. It is fun to see it puff up when grilling.

You brought me back memories of making ''mochi'' traditionaly way at my grandparents' house every year when I was a kid. You need to use glutinous rice (called ''mochi-gome'' in Japanese). You need to soak the ''mochi-gome'' overnight and steam it in a steamer for 20-25 minutes. You pound it in ''ushu'' while they are hot, but some recipes suggest you to use a sturdy Japanese motar and pestle. You can also steam the rice in a rice cooker. You eat the frech ones on the day you made. The rest will get dried sson.

http://tabeyooo.net/blog/2008/10/post_233.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7zPVU1YDsM