GURUGRAM: A whole lot of Japanese families along with their children and women enjoyed an elaborate mix of Japanese delicacies on Friday in Gurugram during the Japanese rice-pounding festival Mochi Tsuki (餅つき) at Dia Park Premier Hotel.

The main attraction of the Japanese delicacies prepared by the team of chefs led by Japanese chef Shinji Nakajima was Yakitori (焼き鳥) on charcoal. It was introduced to the Japanese community for the first time here. There was a long queue of Japanese people for enjoying Yakitori on charcoal with its aroma all around floating in the are under the open sky in the hotel’s lush greens lawns.

Yakitori, also known as Kushiyaki is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. Its preparation involves skewering the meat with kushi (串), a type of skewer typically made of steel, bamboo, or similar materials. Afterwards, they are grilled over a charcoal fire. During or after cooking, the meat is typically seasoned with tare sauce or salt.

The children in particular enjoyed the Mochi rice ponding practice as they to tried their hands with the help of their parents and hotel chefs.

According to Narinder S Punihani, the promoter of Dia Park Premier Hotel, Mochi Tsuki Festival will be organised every year here. “From next year, we would have more elaborate arrangement and added attractions for the Japanese guests. Mochi Tsuki festival will become an annual affair to bring the Japanese community close their traditional culture,” he added.

“We have introduced Yakitori on charcoal to give the Japanese the authentic Japanese cuisine experience. Generally Yakitori is made on electric grills, not on charcoal, and this it looses the very taste of this chicken delicacy. We dont want to compromise on the originality of Japanese hospitality,” said Narinder S Punihani, who is prominently into leather exports business for decades.

Keiji Nakajima, Senior Advisor to Dia Park Premier Hotel, and a respectable figure in the Japanese community in India where he has been staying for the last 24 years said, “Mochi Tsuki festival was organised for the Japanese who didn’t go back to Japan or to other countries on the occasion of New Year celebrations, and stayed back here in India. The idea , was to give them support to enjoy eating mochi. It’s not available in new Dlehi otherwise, and we made it for them and served to make them enjoy in India.”

Nakajima who is Chairman, Nakajima Consultancy Services LLP, and former CMD, Sumitomo India, said though mochi rice were made many times during the year in Japan, but during the New Year celebtration, we make special mochi at the hotel. “I want to make others happier, and joyful. That’s the only reason  I am supporting this hotel.”

Mochi Tsuki festival is the centuries-old method of first steaming the sweet rice over an open fire, then placing the cooked rice into a warm stone or concrete bowl called an usu. Using large wooden mallets, two people rhythmically pound the rice in the usu, while with bare hands a third person swiftly moves the rice between each mallet crash.

After several minutes of vigorous pounding, the rice becomes a thick, smooth dough – mochi. From manual pounding in the usu or special mochi-making appliances, the mochi is removed and children of all ages hand form the steaming-hot mochi into small handball-sized cakes, filling some of them with a sweet bean paste called ahn.

The post Japanese families enjoy traditional rice pounding Mochi Tsuki festival, Japanese food as part of New Year celebrations appeared first on Asian Community News.