Mochi from Hawaii

My Mom and older sister are visiting from Hawaii this week. I know. I just got back from two weeks of vacation and now I’m busy showing my Mom around. Will I ever get the chance to chill and experience the end of summer in the Bay Area?

Don’t get my wrong, I love spending time with my Mom. You can bet we’re eating a lot of Chinese food (good and bad) all week.

My Mom asked me what I wanted from Hawaii, and really, I don’t get many cravings other than for the fresh mangoes. But California agriculture laws would probably land my Mom in jail. So instead I asked my sister to buy a particular mochi that she got awhile back, which I tried and loved.

I generally don’t eat mochi — the Japanese sticky rice ball treats. (If you're not familiar with mochi, it's kind of like a marshmallow but sticky.) But this particular one is so fresh and tasty, I asked her to bring me a pack. It’s from the Kansai Yamato mochi stand in the food court of Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu. What’s unique about their mochi, other than the freshness, is the flavors. Kansai Yamato has a variety of flavors and another unique mochi made with a peanut butter filling. (My sister loves that but it’s a bit too weird for me.)

My sister got me a pack of the honeydew melon and mango flavored mochi. First off, I love the muted colors of the mochi; green for the honeydew and orange for the mango. The sweetness and flavor, while slightly distinctly fake, still gives a good resemblance to the fruit without being overly sweet.

The flavored mochi at Kansai Yamato reminds me of eating chichi dango growing up as a kid in Hawaii. Chichi dango is the colored and sweet mochi eaten as a snack. It’s really the color and sweetness that kids love. So eating these Kansai Yamato mochi from Hawaii just makes me feel like a kid again. (And yes, when my Mom’s around she treats me like one too!)

Other sticky posts:
Mochicream
Sticking Together in the New Year