Fresh Strawberry Mochi

I've been baby-sitting Maddie. She lives next door. She is so young and full of innocent exuberance and energy that she sometimes gets herself in trouble. She often spills her water, potties in the wrong place, tosses her toys out of reach and gets tangled up in all sort of things. Maddie is adorable! Now what does Maddie have to do with Fresh Strawberry Mochi?

Well, in a nice gesture of appreciation for my baby (doggie) sitting stint, Maddie's owner brought over some Fresh Strawberry Mochi made by Saturday Grandma's. As you can see from the photo, the strawberry centered Daifuku mochi is just very pretty when sliced in half.

Haven't eaten breakfast yet, I was quite excited to receive the mochi. I took a huge bite out of it and was not too sure whether I liked it or not. I loved the read bean filling but the strawberry was a little bit tart. I expected the taste of sweet mochi ice cream...mmmmm...now that's a thought! Does anyone make strawberry ice cream with azuki bean filling mochi? Anyhow, I realized that I had just brushed my teeth so maybe the minty toothpaste was distorting the flavor. Naturally, I needed another bite. The second bite, a good combination of both strawberry and red bean, was a little better but still minty-ish. I ate the whole thing anyway.

Of course, before writing this post, I needed to sample another mochi. This time, not expecting the flavor of strawberry ice cream and hoping not to taste mint toothpaste, the culinary experience was much more pleasant. The tarty sweetness is actually quite addicting. There are two more mochi's left but because my kids helped with the baby-sitting, I should be nice and save these for my helpers.

Saturday Grandma's Fresh Strawberry Mochi is located at 98-718 Moanalua Road Unit #A18 just west of Kaahumanu Street in Pearl City on the island of Oahu. Mochi is available for pick up on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 12:00-5:00 pm and Saturday/Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Orders must be placed 2 days in advance but walk-in purchases are welcome. Other flavors and products available. Phone: 808 484-0052.
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From Wikipedia: Daifukumochi or Daifuku (literally "great luck"), is a Japanese confection consisting of a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with sweet filling, most commonly anko, sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans.