Mochi is a Japanese food made of rice flour ground by hand using a large wooden mallet and a wooden drum/mortar. Once the rice is cooked and then ground into paste it is portioned into edible sizes, usually being dusted with dry rice flour to stop it from sticking to everything. Here my son is pounding the ball of rice with a kids' sized mallot. At left, my brother-in-law maintains a ball shape by reaching in between strikes with the mallot. He keeps his hands wet to do, reshaping and moistening the ball.