Discover the deadliest sweets in the world

Japan is a country located in the easternmost part of the earth and its inhabitants call it the origin of the sun. A country where the evidence of habitation goes back to Paleolithic and has a unique history of ups and downs. Today, Japan is known as one of the most developed countries in the world, but nevertheless, the ancient beliefs and culture of the Japanese are seen in many of their rituals and daily life.

In this report, we are going to take a look at one of these special Japanese customs that causes many deaths every year. This custom is related to baking a special kind of pastry called mochi.

History of Mochi

It is said that for the first time, in order to be able to use fresh fish meat, the Chinese wrapped it around fermented rice and ate only meat when eating it. The dish was later introduced in Japan, and they changed the way they were prepared and put their signatures on the sushi forever. Mochi's history is very similar to sushi. Mochi was first made in ancient China, but the Japanese changed the way they were prepared and cooked so that today, when we hear the name Mochi, we only remember one Japanese sweet.

Japanese chewing gum texture became very popular in different eras and was seen in Japanese ceremonies or even legends. In the late eighth century, for example, there was a legend from Mochi that if a rich man cooked flat (not round) mochi from the remaining rice of his land and shot it with a bow, Mochi sweets turned into a white bird and The sky is flying. After that, the rich man's rice fields lose their fertility and he becomes poor. According to Japanese legends, mochi, which is made in a round shape, has spiritual power.

After various stories and legends, the cooking of mochi spread in religious and cultural ceremonies. from the 11th century, eating mochi after the birth of a baby, wedding, child day, girl day, spring start and Japanese New Year has become common.

What is mochi made of and how does it cause death?

The main ingredient of mochi is a kind of Japanese rice flour that has a sweet taste and is called mochiko. One of the characteristics of this flour is its viscosity, which is the main reason why it is deadly. Because after kneading and baking the pastry, the elasticity and stickiness of the pastry is preserved, and if it is not chewed and swallowed well while tasting, this chewing gum can cause suffocation. This issue is so serious that, like Syrian Wednesday in Iran, various Japanese media outlets warn people to prevent the bitter taste in the new year. According to the Tokyo City Fire Department, more than 100 cases of suffocation from eating mochi are registered in the city hospital alone each year. People between the ages of 50 and 80 mostly include this statistic.

As mentioned, mochi is a special kind of sweet that has a special place in addition to the annual consumption in some special Japanese ceremonies, especially New Year celebrations. Even the method of making this sweet, which can be dangerous in itself, has a ritual called mochitsuki.

At least two cooks or pastry chefs, often made by the dead, must be present during the Muchitsuki ceremony. To make mochi, one of the cooks hits the dough with a lot of force, while the other person kneads the dough by hand and spreads flour on it. Of course, this traditional method has often been replaced by confectionery machines.