5 Must-Have Mochi for the New Year

January 5, 2015

Martha Cheng,

From left: Cherry tobanyaki at Nobu, mochi cupcakes at Let Them Eat Cupcakes, mango mochi at Jade Dynasty.

Mo’ mochi mo’ problems? I don’t think so. In the spirit of the new year, here are five fun and deliciously different ways to get your mochi on.

Mochi cupcake from Let Them Eat Cupcakes

Think Hostess cupcake, but with mochi inside instead of the cream filling. Mochi: It’s the best thing to happen to chocolate cake since milk.

$3.25, available Tuesdays only, cupcakes808.com.

Mango mochi at Jade Dynasty

This isn’t mango-flavored mochi. This is mango pudding inside mochi. How do they do it?! If you thought nothing could be more wondrous than mochi ice cream, you were wrong.

$3.50, jadedynastyhawaii.com.

Fried tofu mochi and sweet potato mochi with Earl Grey syrup at Gazen

Two must-have mochi dishes here. The first is savory: light, puffy marbles of mochi deep-fried and floating in an agedashi-style broth with a swipe of wasabi. The second is dessert: sweet potato mochi—also fried so it’s hot and crispy on the outside, oozy chewy on the inside—paired with vanilla ice cream and an Earl Grey syrup.

$6.75 (fried tofu mochi) and $5.25 (sweet potato mochi), e-k-c.co.jp/tenpo/honolulu-e.

Drunken cherry tobanyaki at Nobu

“I’m so fancy!” screams this mochi dessert. Squares of warm mochi cake (like caramelized butter mochi) are topped with rum-soaked cherries, spice caramel, macadamia nut brittle and ice cream. Taste it and you’ll already know.

$13, noburestaurants.com/waikiki.