A sauce that combines the rich umami of the soy sauce with the deep sweetness of the sugar to create a wonderful sticky glaze.
Sweet soy sauce glaze
This sweet soy glaze is a blend of Marudaizu soy sauce from Fukuoka and black sugar from Okinawa, designed to enhance the flavour of the mochi rice.
In traditional Japanese culture, Mochi is considered "food of the Gods", it is a symbol of good fortune and happy marriages. They are also used in Shinto practices to give thanks to the gods for providing the harvest.
What is Mochi?
The word Mochi covers the many different styles and flavours of Japanese rice cakes. Traditionally made of sweet glutinous rice flour or mochigome, and occasionally other ingredients such as water, sugar, and corn starch. The steamed rice is pounded into a paste and moulded, usually into small balls, threaded onto a skewer and then grilled, baked or boiled.
In Japan, it is traditionally made in a ceremony called Mochitsuki. While eaten year-round, mochi is a staple in Japanese cooking and a traditional food for celebrating the Japanese New Year.
On its own, mochi tastes like rice but has a sticky, stretchy, soft and chewy texture. However, it is very versatile with endless flavour possibilities and can be used in a number of different Japanese dishes.
Modern mochi
Mochi can also be made into a dough which is often tinted with matcha tea powder or other food colourings and wrapped around a sweet centre to form a small, bite-sized sweet with a smooth, chewy texture. Traditionally this kind of Mochi was filled with sweet red bean paste, but nowadays, pastel-coloured mochi dough is wrapped around mini scoops of ice cream to make an unusual and delicious sweet treat.
Store in a cool, dark, place. Refrigerate once opened.