as nellie says, buy first, think later.
after i bought the bumper box of 30 assorted mochi for the bargainous price of $7.95, i thought it over, and then tried to get my aunt to take some of it home. “no, no, no,” she said, “i don’t want to eat these fattening things.”
but after she left i checked the nutritional information on the back of the box, and discovered that this magical mochi has 0% fat, 0% protein and 0% dietary fibre; one serving size of mochi — three pieces — is only 67kj. which is surprising, really, as one of the mochi is filled with peanut butter.
this box, almost a kilo of squishy delight, contains a selection of green tea, sesame, taro, red bean and peanut mochi. over the course of the day i managed to sample all five, and i can’t really say which is my favourite. the green tea one isn’t maccha flavoured, as i had assumed, but it’s understandable since this is not japanese but taiwanese mochi, produced by the royal family food co., ltd.
the sesame one is gritty outside and in, coated with black and white seeds, and filled with a ground black sesame paste. it’s the kind of thing that makes you check your teeth before smiling at anyone, after you eat it.
the taro one is a lovely shade of lilac, smooth through and through. the red bean one is as you’d expect, though sprinkled with perhaps more rice flour than necessary, and will leave a powdery white residue on your red carpet when you’re done.
the peanut one is strangely savoury, with its salty smooth peanut butter inside. i’m not a great fan of peanuts, but felt the same way about this as i do when someone else buys a jar of peanut butter, and it’s sitting there in the pantry, and one day he makes a slice of peanut butter toast, and i just have to have a little bite.
the little paper cases have been colour-coordinated with their contents; the red bean mochi sits in a white case, which is printed with fruit: pineapples, grapes, cherries… and the cherry is the same size as the pineapple and the bunch of grapes. that’s my kind of cherry.
some time in the week, this blog will be featured on australianreader.com, as part of their summer feature: delicious indulgence. it’s poetry, fiction and nonfiction by emerging writers, from now until 22 january. go see!
19 Comments
I feel the same way about peanuts and peanut butter too. Right now there’s a jar of skippy peanut butter in my pantry. How I came to have it I forget…do I wait til its expiry date and then throw it out, so that I’ll feel I’ve done my best about it?
Oh yum yum. I like taiwanese mochi – mainly because I can actually afford it and not feel like I’m practically eating money like with japanese mochi. And yeup, no fat – but definitely not Atkins friendly if you’re into that sorta thing.
yay! regarding australian reader! raging yoghurt is the perfect summertime read; since i live in forever summerland, i am quite happy to read you all the time.
mumu: argh. i know that expiry date trick. sometimes i keep a product a year past that because every month after the expiry date i’m like, “it’s only a month over, it’s still good”, “i’s only two months aver, it’s still good”… a curse i tell you.
i remember your post about the peanut-free pork salad. i see that photograph sometimes, in my head. 🙂
cour marly: argh. i know that expensive japanese mochi trick. a tray of supermarket japanese mochi this size would have cost two, or probably three, times the price of mine. can’t even think what princely sum it would command at minamoto kitchoan. i would get these again, but perhaps not thirty. (refer comment above 🙁 )
and now, really, do i seem like the sort of girl who’d be friendly with atkins??
santos: ah santos, you always say the nicest things. thanks, lady! 🙂
Oh god, a KILO OF MOCHI. I’d love some. Particularly the sesame.
To quote your sister: you are lucky!!!!!
I am going right out at lunchtime to the Chinese New Year stalls that sell Taiwanese mochi, to see if theirs are indeed made by the Royal Family Food Co., Ltd.
to quote my sister: you come lah! 🙂
heh, they look like petit-fours. very cute, especially the trim paper.
true, 0% fat, but amazingly unhealthy for you…
mmm, maybe i’ll go to the japanese market for lunch and pick up a bento, some jellyfish, and mochi….
eh. how unhealthy could they be? lots of empty kilojoules is better than say, heroin, or indifference. 😉
i’ve never had jellyfish. is it springy?
oooh a box full of mochi. what kidn fo tea does one drink with mochi – i would like mine to be the “popcorn” tea please. speaking of which i have been meaning to write about my trip the the tea centre at rhodes. have you been?
also tried to check the link above, but cannot find your blog mention. what were your writing about?
genmaicha? in fact, the very tea i have a pot of right here, with my platelet of three mochi.
re: rhodes tea centre: no, but is it similar to the one in pitt street mall? the one with the yummy stockholm blend? i have been to that one.
re: link: i’m not sure which day i’m on… sometime this week. they’re just running a selection of past entries, so you’ve read it all before, ahead of the rest. 🙂
you’ve *never* had jellyfish?? @_@
get thee to a dim sum place and grab a plate. it’s sooo good. mostly just texture, hard to describe. crunchy? more than cucumbers, less than carrots. and yes, springy? it’s definitely not slimey.
and empty calories are like white bread or coke or french fries… the reason why over half the kids in the u.s. are overweight or obese.
Ooh those are so pretty so pretty. I like mochis cos you can eat a whole box and not feel sick.
hikaru: oh y’know, i think maybe i have had jellyfish after all, in one of those cold platter appetisers at a chinese banquet dinner. maybe. i know the crunch you’re talking about though. a cold crunch.
i’m sure refined sugars are only partially responsible for fat kids. if they didn’t sit around playing video games and watching tv for hours, that would be half the problem solved.
having said that, i really would like to eat less sugar, and i don’t even add sugar to my food and tea, nor do i like to eat overly sweet food. but it’s everywhere!! argh!! i just ate six squares of chocolate!!
tscd: WAH. so many singapore people in this comments box. in the same way, there are a lot of mochi in this box of mine. i would be very impressed if you ate it all and didn’t feel sick. the most i’ve eaten in one sitting so far is three, and it makes me feel quite full (almost ill) for hours. this way though, i get to work through several permutations and combinations of three out of five flavours. every day a new mix! today, isolated from taro and red bean, the peanut one was very tasty 🙂
hello… yes i refer to genmaicha – such a lovely tea. after a few cups i always feel quite full. fuller than usual tea. perhaps it is a popped rice
i am not sure if its the same company – but pretty much the same concept. they sell an amazing selection of tea infusers though
thank for your company over lunch today. we should do it again sometime.
Hurrah! I’m visiting another computer today so I can leave a comment! I am entranced by the beautiful photos in this entry, tantalising to say the least. xk