Balls of fun
In Japan, mochi is a traditionally important confection. This native Japanese delicacy is basically made from glutinous rice flour formed into cakes, usually in the shape of balls, and is considered a staple in Japanese New Year’s Day celebrations. While the Philippine media give gory accounts of firecracker victims, the Japanese media report on the number of mochi casualties. According to Wikipedia, many elderly Japanese die from choking on mochi (because it is very sticky) after every new year. Uh-oh, so much for traditions for good luck.
Enter my latest discovery: Magnolia Mochi–ice cream balls wrapped in glutinous rice.
Originally, mochi was stuffed with sweet fillings like sweetened red bean paste, white bean paste, azuki and the like–similar to its more familiar Chinese counterpart, the buchi. That was until the early ’80s when an ingenious Japanese company (Lotte) came up with the unthinkable–mochi stuffed with ice cream. Today one of our ice cream giants is testing if the local market is ready for this dessert by introducing its own version of mochi ice cream.
There were only two flavors at the store from where I bought them–ube and sesame. Mochi has been compared with our native palitaw, but the texture and taste of this mochi is more akin to the flavored tikoy rolls from Eng Bee Tin (which i adore) and, to a certain extent, our very own espasol. However, one bite of the Magnolia Mochi and you’ll know there’s nothing quite like it.
I like the ube variety. The other one has the intense flavor of sesame, which is also good but not as good as ube. The ice cream filling coupled with the soft, chewy, not-too-sticky rice cake provide an exciting sensation in the mouth that puts the ooohh in mochi. My only reservation about this is that it retails for P13.50. If you knew me so well, you’d think that I can eat 10 mochi balls in one go (and you’d be right). But because of its price, I have to control myself. I wish there’s a green tea variety, too. What a really toothsome treat that would be!
August 30th, 2007 at 4:26 am
Would you believe that I have not actually tasted one? Haha!! Will try to scout for these in the Magnolia’s Ice Cream Parlor in Aurora.. Thanks for the heads up!
What?! It’s a freaking Php13.50? Yikes! But I think it’s worth a try!!
August 31st, 2007 at 1:12 am
Let me know what you think once you’ve tasted it. Thanks for always dropping by (I visit your blog, too–very nice!). I appreciate it.
September 19th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
i just read the blog and need to comment about the japanese company “lotte” you had mentioned, i was quite confuse since the name lotte was common in korea, like lotte department store, carnival and even lotte apartment..anyway i enjoy reading your blogs, very interesting and informative.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
hi, antonet! thanks for posting! you are quite right–lotte is actually a japanese-korean company.
October 6th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
sa waltermart meron… hmmm talap
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
ngahanap akong mochi sa mga grocery stores walang stock..buy sna akong 1 box, kc a frend told me that if i buy 1 box, one mochi will fall around $7.00 only each instead of 13.50..so why not? this is addicting but nkaka guilty bukod sa nkakataba, ung presyo nkkapayat bulsa..kc isang kagat lng ubos na..