Mochi is a kind of food made of glutinous rice, mainly common in East Asia, including Taiwan, Japan, and Singapore; it is also one of the representative staples for Taiwanese Hakka. Even though the origin of mochi is untraceable, there are two ancient stories about it that are still going around.

According to the first one, the origin of mochi dates back to the Song Dynasty. There was a small Hakka village in Chiangsi in ancient China. Suffering from a serious drought, the villagers would like to prepare some tributes in order to pray for the rain from Sea Dragon King. There was, nevertheless, no sufficient amount of rice for the preparation, so the villagers decided to collect all the rice they had and ground it into a mushy form. After the ritual, everyone would share the mushy rice ball, and this tradition has also remained as a classic Hakka cuisine.

Another story has it that around 400 years ago, with an eye to overthrowing Ching regime and redeeming the honor of Ming Dynasty, the general, Zheng Cheng Gong, led his army to Taiwan for preparation. Yet, it was difficult for the soldiers to keep the rice they brought for lunch intact owing to intensive drill practices; hence, a soldier came up with an idea of pounding rice into mochi with pickled vegetables wrapped in it, which made it easier for preservation.

From the two stories, it could be inferred that the very first version of mochi was composed of rice instead of glutinous rice that is mostly used today. Glutinous rice tastes more chewy and sticky, yet on the other side, it’s not beneficial for digestion.