I saw a gif of two japanese men making mochi, and noticed that the mortar with which the man was hitting with was different from a regular hammer: one of its sides is significantly longer than the other? Now I’m wondering how does the shape contribute to the work / making of the actual mochi? Is it easier to lift? Does it hit better / more evenly? I’d love some answers, since google hasn’t provided much.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/vtk0vk/why_is_usu_the_mochi_mortar_shaped_like_that/
3 comments
I think it’s just an evolutionary/traditional mindset of Japanese tools in general. A *kuwa* or short hoe has only one blade in a similar shape. A blade itself only has one edge, unlike western two-grind edges. If the hammer has two sides to the head, there needs to be a reason to use the other side of the head. The *usu* head has to be deep enough to strike the mochi at the bottom of the bowl, and a two-sided head would just be heavier for little benefit otherwise. While Japanese tools focus on pulling motions more than western tools (*kanna*, *nokogiri*, etc.), I don’t see how that applies to the technique of the *usu*.
The pestle is deep, this allow the hammer to reach the bottom while also providing additional weight to the hitting end for additional power.
Would be my guess.
it is obviously to make it harder to spin around the handle axis, to make it is always pointing down, if it was same length it would easily spin around the axis