[MG1]

Nope. Used a huge machine that lifted a heavy ram that was thrown up into the air and came down with great force. Large basin made of solid granite the size of that shown in the video. Came down once every 2 seconds. It was very consistent. Timing was important. Otherwise your hand would get crushed. Had to ensure the mochigome got turned into the centre each shot. If not, the ram would possibly damage the granite bowl or the ram itself. Battering ram was solid metal with a wooden shell. Hard to explain without a drawing. Don't know what happened to that machine. It was brought over from Japan by boss. Come New Years, I was relied upon to make the mochi. With the invention of the automatic rice cooker with kneading capability, people could make the stuff at home. Funny thing is, I have my mom's old National Mochi Making Machine. Works to this day.

BTW, dude in video is slapping the mochi with lots of shouting, but not really turning it that often. Pretty awesome show he puts on. He does put water on the mochi just the right amount. Also very important. Especially when you make Kagami Mochi. Too much water and in a day or so gets moldy. Too little water and the mochi starts to crack over time. Then there are the other types of mochi, like komochi and noshi mochi, just to name a few. Mochi for manju is made from rice flour (mochiko). Manju is filled with anko (bean paste) Koshi-an, stubu-an in both black and white variety........ kuro-an and shiro-an. Sakura manju is probably the neatest looking manju. Made to look like sakura. Pink kawa with mochi gome not pounded all the way, filled with bean paste and wrapped in green leaves. Kuri manju, Mikasa Manju, etc. Made 'em all.

I also made sushi, my specialty being the futomaki. Back then the ingredients were top notch. Even used unagi straight from Japan. I don't think people use it that much, since it is so expensive. I remember making the gu from scratch. Scrubbing the bleach off the gourd strips, cooking the shiitake, etc.