How This 116-Year-Old Shop In Little Tokyo Makes Mochi

hey I was going Shawn here we are here in Los Angeles is Little Tokyo at the hundred sixteen year old forget pseudo which is the oldest place in the country where you can buy mochi so we're gonna check it out and learn up a few things my name is brian kitto who gets to-- is a Japanese confectionery store we specialize in machi we've been here since 1903 all this time in lo Tokyo has started with my grandfather say Chiquito and then my father and then I'm the third owner and so what is mochi mochi is a glutinous rice mixture that mixed up into a dumpling and basically it's the dumpling of the Japanese or New Year's Day and most people have it in a soup bursting in their state it's supposed to be for good luck we have a bigger traditional issues that we normally make over the last hundred and sixteen years but we also have initiated more of a snack item type line of mochi strawberry mochi with peanut butter chocolate much you cannot chocolate and rainbow dango is called not an easy business to keep up with since I have an 18 I've been here and I'm 63 now we're in production seven days a week but it's very gratifying you know how many people can say that 116 year old business not a lot of people yeah I've seen changes go back and forth that straight line that little tokyo's that everybody likes to see it's gone left it's gone right but it always comes back to the center over the last 50 years it will be a difference for my son to make the adjustments as this community changes [Music] my dad well he's pretty much been through everything you know he's gone through all the lows I remember when I was younger he was I wouldn't see him in the morning obviously because he'd be already at work and he'd come back late so I'd really only see him just for maybe at night that's it I always knew that it was a Moche that was like our family's business yeah because I was at the store all the time but I never really realized all the other stuff he did besides more cheese when I was younger it was more just like I just said it just because it made people happy it made like the older people happy and it's like oh that's great you're taking over the store I never really thought about it seriously until recently it's part of our families you know it's not really it's not just some storage me I if I don't take it over it's not it's like bonaga being our family or it's just gonna close right there most of warning probably just like being able to make a whole batch of of anything that I saw my dad doing you know because this is stuff I never thought I would ever be able to do because I look at it it's like wow that's so advanced you know but no that's like I can actually do it it yeah it's very funny yeah I'm gonna hopefully extend it for another 50 60 years like for me it's never really been about like the money I always thought about like this is my family's legacy I want to keep it going so can you talk us through what we have here I have this is a smooth red bean paste so you're just like breaking into balls and then you're gonna fill it with this so what I'm measuring is um each piece of measuring actually with these two fingers two fingers my thumb I can feel word is they're gonna pinch it off that's how why these are what seams are yeah but it's not necessarily that easy okay it takes a while to do that that's not that's 40 years of experience right there the real key you know to mastering this craft is being able to make all the same size the same shape but as you can see you know it's very easy to tell this verse of a machine made like what so what should I be tasting for is there's a mesh walls were the the roasted soybean powder is first gonna Denton the sweetness and as you bite and you start chewing you're get sweeter and sweeter and sweeter and then every time you take a new bite that's the first thing on your or your tongue or your palate this is probably the most popular of the traditional ones is we make more of this than anything else it really gives you a three different taste as you were eating it yeah like that nutty like almost cinnamony kind of like flavor look around that's right soy bean powder is a great combination for this yeah I'm like always wanted to learn how to make here dude I'll treat your hand into a cup like your little water in it oh my god and then push on the beat basin yeah mochi boat would see the point she's gonna go around it wicked ramp shaped like a cool good good dude you're a natural oh my god you sound like my dad start closing it just like that seal it up there you go well pretty good BAM right over my shop the idea is to get them watching even all the way around it yep no but you know we don't have to do that with mine it's really fine Brian so that's not bad that was really good first strike you thank you I did better than I thought I would which isn't the bar was really low but I feel it I get it I think I'm I'm on my way I'm on my way which is nice case we call this rainbow table what was done it just added all of this rainbow color yeah and it made it into little bite sizes can you explain a lot of dango is dango is actually made with bright flower rather than the butchers are wasn't in rice farm or tomorrow rice flour is a brush-up rice god you eat for dinner sweet rice cause what you go made what miss them what she give the rice that we use to make mochila transport deaths it has a little sweeter of a team to it that's what they call sweet rice it's not actually sweet but it does taste have a little sweetness to it compared to regular rice mom let's our rice you only go through this after Christmas roughly about maybe six to eight tons of rice most of it will be produced between Christmas and New Year's and will basically just start going 24 hours from the 28th to the 31st we just go around the clock we do about 25 percent of our annual business in the month of December this is a lost art even in Japan and so when they grab our mochi they look at it they eat it it tastes like the old fashioned when they're kids and so it's still that way because in Japan everything is converted to machinery now and it's pretty much mass production so when they come in a store it's kind of interesting that a Japanese person in Japan would appreciate this because there's very few in Japan still doing this anything else so how was an adventure got to learn how to make this this rainbow dango it's it's a huge honor to be in that kitchen and I feel like now whenever you're in a business that has a lot of history where you know that it's like the last of its kind or one of the last of its kind you can really feel of a heart and the weight and the sort of spirit that lives in the place and so it's it was really cool being able to hang out and I forget to know for the day if you ever make it down to Los Angeles Tokyo definitely check it out right here upper street [Music]

Channel: BuzzFeed Bring Me

Views: 8,329,593

Keywords: How This 116-Year-Old Shop In Little Tokyo Makes Mochi, Zuh7, bring me, buzzfeed, buzzfeed bring me, california, experience, food, food adventure, how it's made, how its made, how to make, how to make mochi, japanese, japanese cuisine, japanese dessert, japanese food, japanese sweets, little tokyo, little tokyo mochi, los angeles, making mochi, mochi, mochi making, street food, the art of mochi, the art of mochi los angeles, the history of mochi, tourism, travel

Id: gSgdaEPrcbA

Length: 8min 0sec (480 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 30 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Esc_ape_artist]

Damn, I’m only a mile away from Fugetsu-do, and they’re closed today :( Next time.

Edit: Made it! https://i.imgur.com/Sw7waL4.jpg

[u/SeaborneSirloin]

Very cool to learn about this shop. Thanks for posting!

[u/shockhead]

Where I grew up there was an annual mochi pounding festival and nothing makes my mouth water like warm, fresh, handmade mochi. I miss it a lot, so it looks like I gotta get down to this place ASAP!!

[u/tedywestsides]

The mass produced, machine, stuff probably doesn’t taste as good

[u/xphyria]

Fugetsu-Do is amazing. I love Little Tokyo and this place is one of my favorites.

[u/Cedric_Tvn]

I want to try Mochi now...