Tonight was one those nights that I didn’t want to slice or cut anything.  Basically I didn’t want to “cook.”  The fact is I am hungry, so I decided to make myself “yakimochi (grilled rice cakes)”  Yaki means grilled and mochi means rice cakes, as you might have guessed it.

I used to grill mochi in a small frying pan but since I got this “yakiami” which is a simple yet essential tool made with ceramic and metal. You can grill vegetables, meat, fish, and of course food like mochi over the stove with it.  I sometimes grill “onigiri (rice ball)” with this yakiami so I can add more flavor.  Adding soy sauce while grilling onigiri makes you salivate quickly.

Anyway, over low-medium heat, you cook both side of mochi until it gets golden brown (I like a little burnt).  There are so many ways to eat grilled rice cakes.  For example, you can dip them in ponzu sauce, in shredded radish (mizore-oroshi) and soy sauce, sprinkle soy power and sugar, fry them, spread butter over…list goes on.  I wanted to just have a simple and easy night so I added mochi in to my pre-made and heated bonito & kelp stock (dashi).

My simple night completed.