At Kyoto’s Nishiki Market, a Mochi Mission

Grilled Mochi Master of Nishiki Market

I have a small favor to ask of you next time you’re in Kyoto.

You’ll actually be doing yourself a favor by doing this for me, so really what I’m doing here is providing a recommendation that can be easily pursued and fulfilled whilst sightseeing and taste-testing in Kyoto. Technically, however, since you will ostensibly be doing it as a favor, and not for your own pleasure, what I’m really doing is giving you a free pass — an excuse, if you prefer — to stuff as many charcoal-grilled mochi skewers and mochi balls down your gullet as you please, free of guilt. Got that? Good.

Here’s the favor: If you don’t mind, at some point during your visit to Kyoto I’d appreciate you stopping by Nishiki Market, a covered, multi-block culinary thoroughfare running parallel to the pleasantly ritzy shopping experience of Shijo Street in central Kyoto. (Contrary to popular guidebook and oversold temple-romanticism sentiment, there is indeed a proper metropolitan side to Kyoto, Japan, and it’s in fact quite lovely.) I’m sure that at some point you’d find your way to Nishiki Market anyhow; after all, there’s a popular saying, which I just now made up, that goes “if you haven’t been to Nishiki Market, it’s almost like you haven’t been to Kyoto at all.” You’d likely end up there anyhow because a walk through this old-school market is one of the most enjoyable food-related experiences in town.

With that in mind, while you’re there I don’t want you to feel as if you must strictly attend to my favor and do nothing else; as I say, this is a small request that will be easily fulfilled, and you will have time for other things. No, dear reader, please nurse your sure-to-be wailing stomach by sampling all of those regional and national delicacies which most appeal to you, of which there will surely be plenty. On my first visit, for example, I fancied a soft-serve cone of macha-flavored ice cream; later, it was fresh sashimi sticks, fish cake with lotus roots, pickled Japanese veggies, and grilled squid.

There was so much more I wanted to taste, dear reader, but one’s gullet can only be stuffed so much. Fortunately I’m giving you a free pass on two Nishiki Market food items, by way of this favor request, which conveniently helps free up sampling space; since it’s a favor, it’ll be like you’re not eating these charcoal-grilled mochi at all.

Grilled Mochi at Nishiki Market

Grilled Mochi at Nishiki Market

First, I ask that you think of me as you sample small balls of gooey mochi goodness, six per skewer, which are first soaked in a syrupy, sweetened soy glaze, then slightly blackened on the grill and served with folded paper to catch the dripping glaze. Until I ripped these firmed, yet still sticky dumplings from their skewer, I’d never thought about grilling fresh mochi, and yet now, I confess, it’s all I think about. Life, love, death, taxes, and grilled mochi — that’s it these days. Oh my, dear reader, they are wonderful, those charcoal-grilled mochi.

Sickly sweet though these skewers may sound, it’s actually a mild sweetness tinged with a passing glance of saltiness, so look not on this as dessert — dessert comes next, and yes, it’s served at the same stall. (I do apologize that I’m unable to provide the stall’s name, but it was written in Japanese, and thus far in life that is a script which I cannot yet decipher, and likely one that you can’t either. The stall is located about halfway through the market, no matter from which side you enter; if you somehow miss the man grilling mochi skewers and plump, green-colored mochi balls, just look for the display of wicker baskets filled with sealed mochi logs that resemble loaves of bread.)

Mochi Loaves at Nishiki Market

Mochi Loaves at Nishiki Market

Once you’ve located the stall, and after thy eyeballs have stopped rolling with sexual tension from the sweet soy-glazed mochi skewers, I simply ask, to close out this favor, that you also eat at least one grilled, macha-flavored mochi stuffed with red bean paste. One bite and it’ll almost feel as if, to quote an unnamed wise man, “there’s a party in your mouth and everyone’s invited.” The crisped shell of mochi goo, the delicate macha batter, the subdued sweetness of the red bean filling — it’s like the Japanese version of campfire-roasted s’mores.

I do hope that you now see how very little I’m asking of you when I ask this favor next time you’re in Kyoto, Japan — and that you note, too, that each round of these grilled mochi costs just 160 yen, or at the time of this request about US$1.45. I wish I didn’t have to ask, that I could do this on my own accord, during my own next visit to Nishiki Market, but having just recently returned from Kyoto, at this time I do not foresee a return visit in the near future.

You, dear reader, are the only one to whom I can turn. Please do this for me; do it for yourself.

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