Mizu Shingen Mochi -- The New Era of Mochi?

          Is that picture even Mochi?

          Those who are familiar with the picture might want the writer to just hurry up and say what’s on her mind already, but those who aren’t might just want to ask did the writer even put the right picture there? 

          Now, before you argue with me, what I want to share today is not just any Mochi, it’s Mizu Shingen Mochi. It first bloomed in 2014 in Japan. What’s Mizu Shingen Mochi? You can see, that jelly-like thing in the picture is the Mochi referred.

          First, let us start by knowing the basic. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake, speculated to be originated from China. It is made using glutinous rice, and usually eaten in special occasions like on new years, spring time, Children’s Day and also Girl’s Day.

Mochi is known for its soft and sticky texture, and also for its chewiness. The original ones are made without any fillings, though, popular ones are the ones with various fillings, nurturing those who have sweet tooth, like me.

         Now, let’s move on to our main topic, Mizu Shingen Mochi, or also known as Water Cake, Raindrop Cake, or Water Mochi. As you can see from the picture above, it looks more like a Jelly than a sticky rice cake. You are in fact correct. When I first saw that in a small stand in a mall, my interest was piqued. The Mochi was so clear, it was transparent! 

         How about the taste though? The taste is rather delicious, not as sweet as the usual Mochi, but you can taste the tenderness of the Mochi. It is not sticky, but you will feel a certain sensation just like when you are eating Jelly. 

         Due to the lack of sweetness in it, it is served with additional syrup and soybean powder. The syrup that I got was Matcha, so it is green in the picture. But it is usually served with brown sugar syrup to enhance the sweetness. You might feel the soft soybean powder in your mouth. It was really nice, and I really liked it.

Why is it so jiggly though? Mizu Shingen Mochi is made of agar, thus the jelly-like texture. Because it is much more delicate than the normal Mochi, you must eat it under thirty minutes as it can melt, remember it is in fact a “Water” Cake.

          The usual Mochi usually make some scene in the new years. Each year on new years, there are always people who were choked by Mochi and even led to death from asphyxiation (deprivation of air). 

           Japanese people are even warned to eat Mochi carefully, and not to eat the Mochi whole, but cut it to smaller pieces beforehand. There is also a warning about not letting children or elderly people eat Mochi unattended. I do think Mizu Shingen Mochi is the solution for that.

          Are you interested in trying Mizu Shingen Mochi? If you do, thankfully, you can find it not just in Japan. It is now widespreaded around the globe, like America and South Asian countries. 

          I found this Mizu Shingen Mochi in a mall nearby. Unfortunately, it was sold in a non-permanent store. There was a Japanese food bazaar outside of the mall for three days, and I found this there.

I hope this piqued your interest as well. Good day!

(http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/06/30/we-travel-to-yamanashi-to-try-the-water-cake-that-disappears-in-30-minutes%E3%80%90taste-test%E3%80%91/)