11.08.09
Japanese Style Brown Sugar Mochi
Once again into the breach of mochi because a couple of the Guinea Pigs and I really dig mochi and this one looked particularly intriguing. Also, to get you a review on time (i.e. the same day as it’s actually posted -although I did dink with the posting time since I usually set the JSFRs to post in the wee hours of the day) I had to go with what I had pictures of. I had mochi so here it is.
I grabbed these at the store, even though I had already done a month of mochi, because they were brown sugar flavored and I thought they had some sort of frosted bottom. They don’t; the pic is just a mochi cut open oddly and displaying its gooey inner center. I think. I’m still not sure what’s up with the picture on the cover because the insides do not look quite like that. I suppose if you squint possibly the dark brown rice pastry wrapping and the dark brown inner goo might look like a frosted bottom. Maybe.
I also got these mochi because of the fun slogan. Ummm…ouch! Have you ever gotten your fingers pinched between two magnets attracting forcefully?
I sort of like these mochi for a couple of different reasons, strange fortune cookie package slogans not withstanding. First of all, they have a nice maple/molasses smell to them and are coated with a brown powder dust rather than the standard white rice flour dust. We thought it might be cocoa or ever brown sugar but we were wrong on both accounts. We’re not sure what it is, but it tastes like maple and possibly oatmeal. Perhaps it’s brown sugar rice flour? Who knows but it certainly was a lot more interesting than the other mochi rice four dust.
The rest of the mochi, from the rice pastry wrapping to the bean-y gooey center is pervasively pleasantly maple-y molasses. Plus pea points for nailing the brown sugar flavor even if they weren’t as sweet as we were braced for. My mochi Pig and I thought that brown sugar mochi would be over the top sweet, being brown sugar and all, but they are not. Well done, however that was managed. The one thing I think that these brown sugar mochi could use a little work on is the powdery outside. That stuff gets everywhere, more so than any other mochi I’ve had. Whatever is mixed with the rice four to give it a nice tan color and a odd but pleasant flavor also causes it to clump off the mochi most spectacularly. You will want a napkin when eating these fellas.
Rating of 3.5 wasabi peas out of a possible 5 wasabi peas.
(( Ms. K. )) said,
December 3, 2009 at 4:11 pm
If this is from the royal brand, can’t really see but I did not like it one bit. Maybe it’s the brown sugar and filling.
Boo said,
December 3, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I do not believe this was a Royal mochi but I don’t remember quite who made it. Hrrrm! I’ll see if I can remember next time I’m out shopping and check on who makes these. The flavor is…odd if you like standard mochi so I can see where they would taste yuck. I myself prefer a bit more red beaniness but I found these OK.
kenneh said,
June 22, 2010 at 11:11 pm
I love these! I always buy them, so yummeh!!! <333
Nathalie said,
July 27, 2010 at 9:45 am
I tried these for the first time the other day. I had never had mochi but was feeling adventurous after tasting moon cakes that a friend brought back from Beijing.
I thought the mochi were delicious and I really liked the intense artificial maple flavouring you mentioned (and I’m usually a bit of a maple snob). I don’t however, like the extra-gooey texture when they’re at room temp. and found them to be better after being refrigerated, which I know is probably not the intended temperature.