Mochi and the Doughnut

Mochi and The Doughnut.

What is Mochi? So happy you asked. In Japan, Mochi is a type of rice cake that is about the size of a cake pop, however its equivalent to eating an entire bowl of rice. Mochi was on my radar when I was living in Atlanta and I have to say, I wasn’t impressed. The flavor was nice, but I was taken back by the chewy aspect of it. Would my chewing ever end? I was having a hard time trying to find something to compare it to. Perhaps a really big and thick gummy bear. It’s sweet, stretchy, sticky soft and chewy. Overall, it just wasn’t pleasant to me. I have a thing about textures. My wife on the other hand LOVES IT! She has an array of Asian dishes she is yet to introduce me to, but hey, it’s nice to save something for later. Especially since I am widely known for my culinary adventures. Back to Mochi.

There were so many colors and flavors, even if I was interested, which I still was… the options seemed to be endless. I’m into that too!

I walked through Whole Foods and they had an entire refrigerated display near the checkout where you could grab a cute set of 3 refrigerated pieces and be on your way. It seemed like every store I went in, Trader Joes has them in the frozen section and Ralphs had a similar display to Whole Foods. I just recently learned that the ones in the freeze section have ice cream in the middle. This has now piqued my interest. I have developed a slight interest in ice cream related items that don’t include chocolate.

However, that is another story for another time in another blog. So here I am, feeling like there was a mochi fairy wandering around trying to force me to have another try. My wife made gentle suggestions and always asked if I wanted to try it. To no avail, I politely and graciously declined.

Then one morning in February she suggested we grab some doughnuts from a little shop inside a Japanese market. She had me at market! I absolutely adore markets!! It had been a while since we had been inside this one, so I jumped on board eager and with excitement to walk the rows of possibilities! As we approach the shop within the market there are flavors posted on the wall. I look behind the glass and I see nothing already made to make my selection. Then it dawns on me… these are made to order!!!

Modo Hawaii. 14320 Culver dr. Irvine, Ca 92604

My face lights up as I start asking questions and watching the magic happen. These were going to be hot mochi doughnuts in seasonal flavors like thai tea, honey, matcha, cookies and cream and lilokai, which is a type of passion fruit. This my friends is where addiction begins. They have new flavors daily and some that are always on the menu like matcha and lilokai. They were all tasty, but honey won me over. It had just a touch of sweetness and the perfect amount of chewy goodness. I know I mentioned earlier that the chewy aspect was not my favorite, but for the doughnut it works. It’s almost as if the chewiness gives it extra time in your mouth and they taste so good so it’s what you want! Yasssss, let that thang linger! I will not lie to you. Get some! So, the place inside Mitsuwa is called Modo Hawaii. I will link over to it. Amazing!