mochi/manju

today, i had the BEST mochi/manju i have ever tasted -- out of this world good, strawberry manju from Benkyodo Co.

while i was shopping for poki ingredients in japantown last week, i remembered reading about some place that had rave reviews for their peanut butter and strawberry mochi. i was curious to see what all the hype was about since my previous mochi experiences had always been with the ice cream mochi i would eat during my college days, or with the overly sweet red bean kind that i would end up eating all of the mochi and throwing out the filling. in order to take advantage of my rare trip to japantown, i had to call up johanna to look online for the name and location of the place. too bad Benkyodo closes at 5pm because it was too late for me to experience them that day.

but today, my luck changed!

after paying for the peanut butter manju you have to buy in packs of three, i debated trying other flavors. i am so glad for my often excessive ways, as i got to try the strawberry manju! it has pieces of fresh strawberry in the middle. so so good! i am craving one right now and kicking myself for only buying one. sorry roomie and boyfriend, you will just have to hear about the delicious treat until i go there first thing tomorrow morning (they open at 8 am, should i?!). the peanut butter is also good with crunchy pieces of peanuts inside and i think it would be even better if i had some tea to wash it down with.

but it is the strawberry mochi i am currently feenin' for!!!!!!!!!!!!

next trip, i also want to try other manju - the Age which is donut like, Yomogi with whole red beans, and Chofu, pancake wrapped sweet rice.