Mochi?

I'm going to admit something that is no real secret: I have a major sweet tooth. It's no surprise that I have a little baking service on the side, From Scratch & Sniff. Well tonight, after we had Coconut Curry Rice for dinner (um...yum!) I was craving something sweet. I've done so well on this pseudo diet so far and didn't want to wreck it by eating something totally indulgent, so I pulled a package of mochi out of our fridge.

Mochi was a Whole Foods discovery/impulse buy. It's completely vegan and made by Grainaissance; made from sweet brown rice, filtered water, raisins, cinnamon, and sea salt. The package's description says: "About Mochi (Say: Mo'Chee) Mochi is a traditional Japanese food made from a special short-grain rice. We steam then pound the rice to accentuate its chewy texture and nutty flavor. Bake Mochi - amazing! - it puffs up, creating a chewy muffin with a crispy crust. Mochi is a satisfying whole-grain treat known for promoting stamina. 100% non-dairy and wheat-free" 

Perfect, right? The package even tells you how to make Raisin-Cinnamon Mochi Danishes. So I follow the instructions, doubting in my head that these hard, stick squares will magically puff up in the oven. After 10 minutes, I check on them and they haven't moved. They look like tiles on the baking sheet. So I set the timer for another 5 minutes and check again; now they've puffed up a little but they haven't browned on top. I leave them for another 3 minutes - still not done. A final 2 minutes. So much for the 8-10 minutes in the directions! 

I pull them out and....well in the words of my boyfriend, "Um. They kind of look like dog poop." Not the most appetizing looking things, but hey, we're open minded here! They may have ended up baking a little too long, but I'm not sure. They weren't burnt but they had, perhaps, "over-puffed" (see photographic evidence). So I slit two of them with a sharp knife and stuff some Tofutti, raw local honey, and slivered almonds inside. We each take a bite and stare skeptically at each other. As we chew, we have that "I'm trying to decide what this tastes like/I'm trying to make myself think I like this" look on our faces. The texture was chewy alright. It was sort of like that of fruit leather - not at all what you'd expect from something described as "pastry."

 Fresh out of the oven...?

Raisin-Cinnamon Mochi Danish

Sadly, the mochi found it's way to the trash and we won't be purchasing another package any time soon. I've had a lot of Japanese food, have even been to Japan, but this was certainly a miss for us. Has anyone else out there tried mochi...and did you like it???