Keeping consistent with her love of writing about food, blogger Elizabeth Shay writes about cooking the world’s largest mochi to begin this week’s theme of “World Records You Think You Could Break.”–Theme Editor Jake Sonderman
By Elizabeth Shay
From colossal pizzas to humongous cups of coffee, my favorite World Records involve supersized foods and drinks. Breaking such records requires a lot of time, money, and creative thinking. Instead of trying to create a 10,000 foot sushi roll, I think that I could set the bar for the world’s largest mochi, which has not yet been recognized!
Record Requirements
As of 2011, Guinness created the policy that all giant foods or records that involve large amounts of food must be either donated, consumed, or sold for consumption for the record to be recognised as official (todayifoundout). This segues into the next stipulation that giant foods must be edible and generally resemble the original food or drink that it is modeled after.
What is Mochi?
Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome (a short-grain glutinous rice), water, sugar, potato starch or cornstarch, and sometimes flavorings. Mochigome is made into flours called Shiratamako or Mochiko, which differ in texture and processing methods (Wikipedia). Mochi is a very important food in Japanese culture and is tied to the importance of the staple crop–rice–as well as the practice of thanking the Shinto gods for a bountiful harvest. Mochi is known for its sticky, stretchy, soft, and chewy texture; it can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. There are 16 common types of mochi, including mochi ice cream which has become popular in the United States (byfood).
How is Mochi made?
The process of making mochi at home today is simple. It can be done in a microwave using only three main ingredients for the most basic mochi. The Shiratamako and Mochiko flours are sold in stores, so you don’t have to worry about grinding rice at home.
- Whisk together the sweet rice flour with water to form a smooth batter.
- Then strain the mixture and whisk sugar into the strained batter.
- Next, microwave it for three minutes, mix, and return it to the microwave for another two minutes.
- After stirring once again, you should have a smooth and shiny dough. Line a flat surface with parchment paper and generously sprinkle potato starch or cornstarch on it.
- Scrape the still warm dough onto the surface, and cut it into the desired size with a starch-dusted knife.
- Finally, shape the dough into the desired shape and serve warm or chilled for 20 minutes (Masterclass).
This is the most basic recipe. Mochi can be enhanced by adding flavors and fillings such as green tea or red bean paste.
Beating (setting) the Record
As of right now, there has not been an internationally recognized giant mochi. Compared to other foods with many ingredients, mochi is actually a very cost effective supersized food creation to attempt. I would likely create large batches of dough and combine them, rather than trying to attempt it all at once. If I had access to more money and factory or industrial facilities and equipment, this task would be much easier! With my limited resources, I predict that I could begin by setting the record with a humble five-foot mochi. This would be easily broken, but I think that it would be fun to try!
What giant food record do you want to set or break?
World Records You Think You Could Break Editor: Jake Sonderman
Sources:
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/07/happens-big-food-made-break-world-records/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi
https://www.byfood.com/blog/travel-tips/the-beginners-guide-to-mochi
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/mochi-recipe#sweet-japanese-mochi-recipe