Day 176 - Mushroom Mochi

Followers of this blog will know that a couple of months ago we hosted what we called a Trader Joe’s Dinner Party.  Everything we served was from TJ’s, and we had forms for the guests to fill out and rate each product.  Those scores were then averaged and used in the blog. 

 

TJ's dinner party ingredients - the Mushroom Mochi are on the far left of the photo near the kumatos and cheese...

Well, one problem was that we had purchased SO MANY items to use for the party (each review sheet had 26 products listed) that we FORGOT to cook and serve one!  Yes, the Mushroom Mochi stayed in the freezer until the middle of the dinner, when one guest saw it listed on the review sheet and said something like, “Can you pass the Mushroom Mochi?” to which I had to reply, “Ummmm….”, because I could NOT pass them, they were still frozen.

Oops - forgot to take the box out of the freezer...

And they remained frozen until last night.  We got home late from a rehearsal, I was exhausted, plus I have a bad cold.  So we needed something EASY and quick.  We ended up busting out the mochi and serving it with rice, fresh green beans, and peas. 

Here they are on a plate!

The box calls the little mochi “potsticker dumplings”.  I do not think that is a great description though, because they do not taste like any potstickers I have ever had.  There are 3 cooking instructions – microwave, steam, or stove top.  I did the stove top method and it was very easy and took a total of around 8 minutes. 

Cooking - heat in a pan (sprayed with Pam), then add water, cover, and steam

One word the box uses to describe these is “toothsome”.  Wow, that’s an adjective you do not see often!  In fact, let’s look it up.  Here is what dictionary.com has to say: 

1.        pleasing to the taste; palatable:   a toothsome dish.

2.        pleasing or desirable, as fame or power.    

3.       voluptuous; sexually alluring:   a toothsome blonde.

I am going to go with definition number one – pleasing to the taste.  These were pleasing to the taste! They were ODD, that’s for sure.  The first bite you definitely notice the TEXTURE more than the taste.  The mochi part is very gooey, but gooey in a good way.  It is hard to explain.  And the mushroom filling is really tasty. 

The box also tells us that in Japan they make mochi dumplings to celebrate New Year and guarantee good health in the upcoming year.  I will have to ask my friend Yanomi if this is true.  In any event, I think I will add these to our New Years Eve celebration traditions, right along with eating 12 green grapes in one minute at the stroke of midnight!

So even though we did not EAT the Mushroom Mochi at the dinner party, one clever guest still reviewed it.  Here is what she had to say:

-          “Probably would have been awesome but unfortunately we never got that chance.”

I say – get these.  Try them out.  My only other experience with mochi that I remember has been on top of frozen yogurt and I love it, but that is COLD.  This is a totally different taste and sensation eating it warm.

Quite cheap for such a taste experiment - go for it!

P.S.  – I dare you to try and casually throw the word “toothsome” into a conversation sometime this week!

Price - $2.99 (for 12 pieces)

Rating – 4.5