How Many Shades of Mochi?

The first time Mr. Chi-Town and I walked into a Wholefoods in Denver, he went into a state of euphoria. In an isolated area at the back of the baked items, an ice box sat there still filled with pretty pastel shades of petit round mochis. Not just mochis. They were frozen mochis. They were made-in Hawaii mochis.

Description: Sweet chewy glutinous rice pastry on the outside; frozen ice-cream on the inside. Flavors came in different varieties. People and children of all ages were mooching around either in a state of delirium or simply didn’t know what to make of these little colorful semi-freddo cookies. We, like the children, went into a state of frenzy, too. I got so distracted I failed to take a good shot of the treasure box. Look at the picture below and tell me. See what I mean? Is that some kind of  mochi syndrome or what?
Guess what we did? We picked one of each kind. Every mochi had a personality of its own, so it was hard not to leave any mochi unturned. I really liked the chewy-ness of the sweet glutinous rice paste, the gooeey-ness of the frozen tropical fruity, berry, vanilla, and interesting chocolatey fillings. My top favorite was the green tea mochi. It wasn’t too sweet. I also tried one with adzuki bean and strawberry dark chocolate chip. It was delicious! Mr. Chi-Town, on the other hand, liked every type of the mochi. In fact, he loved the espresso mochi so much he walloped my share of it. I pouted big time. He went back two days later to pick up a couple for me, but alas, they were all gone  🙁

Recently, when we walked into Wholefoods in Pleasanton, California, to pick up some lunch, Mr. Chi-Town went to town when he saw another ice box filled with the same frozen mochi from Hawaii but in completely different flavors. Amid the distraction, I, on the other hand, managed to capture this one shot. (It’s not that bad, is it?) Without wasting much time, Mr. Chi-Town and I picked up an array of mochis. The cashier who checked us out twice with nothing but batches of mochis was tickled. The mochis sure brought out the kids in us. As I nibbled and savored every bite, Mr. Chi-Town nyomed them all one at a time.  It felt like a fun mochi lunch hour at a healthy Montessori.
Mango mochi. Very mango-eey indeed!
And the one below is the adzuki bean mochi. Absolutely yummy! Do you see the mashed red beans?
One more serving before we hit the road, Jack. Yes, we’ll be coming back for more for sure.

Dear Mochi,
Instead of fifty shades of grey, I’m glad that you come in pretty shades of pink white chocolate raspberry, purple blueberry, brown chocolate, green tea, and snow white lychee. The only request I have is… please make one with durian.

Much love.
Tee

Just a word of caution. If you happen to pick up these Hawaian-made frozen mochis, make sure they are consumed right away. They melt fast.

So what’s your mochi story? To me, keeping up with the mochi madness in Pleasanton for a day gave me enough sugar high for another 365. I’m good for now. A cup of matcha is all I need to keep the mochi away.

Cheers!
Tee