MOCHI

Mochi (read "Moci") is a Japanese dish with a soft, fluffy and chewy texture, made with a kind of glutinous rice. Traditionally, Mochi was served as a special dish in various celebrations and ceremonies, although in recent years it has been used for the creation of many Japanese dishes, both sweet and savory, including the famous stuffed Mochi balls. 

There are two different ways to prepare Mochi: the traditional method or the more modern one.
Using the traditional method, Mochi is made by hammering steamed glutinous rice in a large wooden mortar, called Usu, with a wooden club called Kine.
Mochi-tsuki is the Japanese term for this traditional method used to make Mochi.
Mochi-tsuki events still take place at the end of each year for New Year's preparations.
With the second method, however, the glutinous rice is dried by reducing it to a powder (called Mochiko / sweet rice flour), to which water is then added to transform it into Mochi.

Mochi is a very versatile food, and is often used as a staple ingredient in many traditional Japanese dishes and desserts.
Mochi is made with water and glutinous rice, so it has a very simple flavor, and to make it more flavorful, mochi is often seasoned with various sauces and paired with other foods.
Excellent stuffed with Adzuki red bean jam, or plain accompanied by soy sauce or seaweed.
There are many different Japanese desserts that use Mochi as a basic ingredient:

Dango is a dish made up of small round pieces of Mochi served on a skewer and topped with sauce.

Daifuku is a very popular dessert, perhaps best known along with Mochi Gelato, which consists of a round ball of Mochi with a red bean paste filling called anko.

Recently, the Mochi Gelato (Mochi Ice Cream), has become very popular all over the world, with several brands of food products now producing every taste.

But if you want to enjoy an authentic and genuine Mochi Gelato, you can easily prepare it at home,

The daifuku are the classic mochi, they have a spherical shape and are filled with azuki paste, sweet red beans widely used in Japanese desserts, if you have never tried them they have a flavor that is very reminiscent of chocolate, but more delicate.
Ichigo daifuku consists of whole strawberries wrapped in mochi paste, in fact strawberries are very popular in Japan, there are more than 40 varieties and often they are already considered a real dessert on their own. A popular mochi in Japanese restaurants around Italy is definitely the ice cream mochi, which, surprise surprise, is filled with ice cream.