I love how the tradition of mochi spans memories and cultures, from Filipino bibingka and Chinese nian gao to Japanese mochi and Hawaiian butter mochi. Mochi’s presence in my daily life was fleeting.

When I was growing up, my mom coated slabs of niangao, a dense and sugary glutinous cake, in egg and fried them French-toast style. It was a dessert you had to eat right out of the pan. I’ve found ...