10.10.09
Sweety Novelty Company (red bean mochi)
Heh, it’s October so I thought I’d bring you something a little scary…Return of the Mochi.
OK not really except sorta because I do indeed have mochi lined up, photographed and tasted so…yeah. I at least don’t have a full month of it (yet. Mochi: the new Pocky!). I also have another offering from Sweety Novelty Company. Remember last time Sweety skulked its mochi-wannabe head around the JSFR and I mocked it soundly for not containing any sesame in their sesame flavored mochi? Well guess what…they’re baaaaack.
Actually I’m kinda glad because the sesame listed all the other flavors Sweety Novelty Company made but I never did find anything other than sesame until now. I’m also glad that the red bean flavor does indeed contain red beans. That is quite a step up from the sesame. They also contain locust bean gum so maybe they are making up for the lack of sesame with extra beaniness.
I happen to have another red bean mochi that I’m reviewing simultaneously (hey! Guess what’s going to be next week’s snack!) and it’s interesting to note the differences. Sweety Novelty mochi have a pretty pink rice pastry wrapping (OoooOOOOoooo!) and a beany mauve colored ice cream with bean inclusions but they are also a size smaller. I’d say they are still a two bite snack but I’m not sure I would have noticed that they were just a tad tinier than the other mochi (Maeda-en in case you were curious) if I didn’t have one of each side by side on a plate. Huh.
Sweety Novelty Comapny’s red bean mochi, while a step up from the sesame flavor, suffer from the same odd oily slickness in the ice cream. I wasn’t particularly bothered by the sensation with the sesame but somehow oily and red bean are putting me off my mochi love. The ice cream is also not as stellar as I would have hoped and the bean inclusions are a bit uninspiring. Considering these are made by an American company I’m doubly disappointed since on the whole, American companies can do ice cream. If I were to grade Sweety Novelty Company’s red bean ice cream I’d say they could pull at least a C, which is still passing. On the other hand, who wants to eat C ice cream when there are so many other tastier ice creams out there?
Rating of 2 wasabi peas out of a possible 5 wasabi peas.
