The Art of Mochi: A Gastronomic Adventure

As I walked through the streets of Hilo, Hawaii, I stumbled upon a small bakery that caught my attention - Two Ladies Kitchen. The enticing aroma of freshly made mochi wafted through the air, drawing me in like a magnet. I couldn't resist the urge to try their signature desserts and experience the magic of this traditional Japanese treat.

The first mochi I tried was a passion fruit daifuku, with a great flavor of passion fruit that was neither sour nor sweet but had a clear present flavor of passion fruit. The texture was very sticky, and I liked it very much. This one's very very sticky i like this one a lot very smooth lovely lovely texture and great flavor too. Next up was another mochi with a maple leaf on top and a brownie in the middle - isn't that great? a mochi with a brownie in it yes here we go oh those are so good.

This particular mochi stood out from the rest, and I couldn't help but crave its deliciousness. This one is worth replicating oh my goodness this one is outstanding you've got a buttery chocolatey decadent brownie bite in the middle surrounded by the wonderful texture of freshly made mochi which is chewy and sticky and bouncy and wonderful all right this one i need to make at home because this one is so good okay so okay so i think this one is my new favorite because i am a chocolate fiend but yes for all of you that recommended going to two ladies kitchen thank you thank you thank you because i'm confirming that this is absolutely wonderful i have not had one that i haven't loved yet moving on.

The next mochi I tried was number seven, and it was a sweet little purple one made with Okinawan sweet potato, also known as ube. It had a beautiful purple color and a lovely fragrance when you opened it. The texture on the outside was chewy, and the inside was soft and smooth - very soft again texture on the outside chewy soft and tender and the inside is very smooth it has more of a texture of mashed potato a little bit different than the beans very very nice subtle more traditional flavored mochi.

I also tried buttermochi, which was made with mochiko flour and had a delightful and unexpected texture. It looked like a cake, but when you took a bite, the crumb developed into a chewy mess similar to mochi but still very different. The sweetness was very light and subtle, reminiscent of Japanese-style desserts.

Last but not least, I tried the strawberry daifuku, which was a gigantor size compared to what I've seen before. It had a juicy ripe strawberry in the middle, a bit of uncle bean paste on top, and a wonderful soft fresh mochi exterior - delicious absolutely delicious. What I love about these mochis is that they were all made fresh, and you could taste the love and care that went into each one. If you are in Hilo, definitely check out Two Ladies Kitchen, and if you're planning to visit, make sure to get there early, as the line was long!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso just dropped off a load of laundry and while it's drying i'm gonna go across the street and go to two ladies which is famous for their mochi since i just ate lunch i think i'm gonna buy them and then i'll taste test them later okay yeah greetings my beautiful lovelies it's emmy and as you can see i am not in my kitchen i am in beautiful big island hawaii i'm actually in volcano hawaii and this place is absolutely amazing i am in the middle of the hawaiian jungle it is raining and i'm losing daylight so i'm gonna quickly taste for you some beautiful mochis that i picked up in hilo hawaii now these mochis came from the legendary two ladies kitchen in hilo hawaii i just bought them a couple hours ago and they are so stinking charming now i got the assorted pack and i also got a strawberry daifuku now when you go to the shop you have to pay in cash and right next to the register are little assorted packs now they're all random so you don't really know which ones you're going to get the lady behind the counter said there's a mixture of kind of more traditional mochis or daifuku and then more kind of contemporary ones all kind of a little mixed bag now if you don't know what mochi are are japanese rice cakes made with sweet glutinous rice that are sticky and soft and have a great chewy texture oftentimes they're filled with sweetened bean paste atsuki paste that's the most traditional but these ones are special because they're going to be a little bit more hawaiian so when you go into the store there's a little poster that kind of gives you the breakdown of what these flavors are already i can't wait to taste these now let's start with this really sweet yellow one looks like little pair of butt cheeks super cute now cut these all in advance so i could show you what they look like inside oh they're so soft and they're dusted with a little bit of rice flour and inside we've got a little bit of paste i can't really smell anything now this might be white bean paste not really sure but let's give this a go itadakimasu so so good the texture is outstanding super super tenderly soft and chewy it just kind of gives in your mouth delicious freshly made mochi it's not hard sometimes you have a mochi that's not fresh it's been sitting in the refrigerator it has kind of a hard texture to it while it's still kind of soft this is just achingly tenderly soft the filling is a very smooth white bean paste sweet but not overly so and just ever so tender so this is unfortunately not the peach one which i was hoping it to be it's yellow like the peach but there's no fresh peach in there it's just the white bean paste but it is so so nice it's the cheeto filling which is just the nice sweet smooth white bean paste oh so good i want to eat more of this but since i have eight more i'm gonna put it down so the next i'm gonna taste is this one and this looks like nothing i've ever seen in japan and it's got a very baked look to it and this one's called the pie crust and inside it has a white bean paste i'm not really sure what the paste is inside oh it smells delicious it smells baked more kind of like a pie crust or scone all right let's give that a taste oh that was good and just like its name the outside has a beautifully flaky crust on the outside a little bit of egg wash on top just lightly sweetened a little bit buttery absolutely delicious this actually reminds me a little bit of what you can get in a chinese bakery light and flaky crust oftentimes you'll have a savory filling inside but this is sweet and i believe um i believe the filling is the same as the first daifuku that i had which is a white bean paste very very smooth and just lightly sweetened utterly delicious i love the blend of kind of a baked pie crust with the traditional white bean filling delicious this is this one is a winner right here pie crust yes okay now look at this sweet one isn't that charming look at this beautiful green color isn't this one sweet this little green one it has little dimples as if it was just gently pinched like that mochi are so sweet okay now this one also has a bean paste in it but this one looks like it has more texture in it so this has a little bit i believe it's called subuam this is also sweetened bean paste adzuki bean paste but this one is a little bit more coarsely ground let's give that one a go i wish you could feel these in your mouth they just are so utterly soft and tender this is the best mochi i ever had even in japan they were never seen this fresh these are just wonderful now this one has more of a bean flavor i feel like the bean flavor is more pronounced than the white bean ones that i had you definitely can taste the bean flavor i quite enjoy it some people have a hard time with atucky beans they're like why are there beans in my dessert but absolutely delicious and you can feel a little bit of the bean skin in there as well very very nice and again the outside is just so so tender i don't taste any flavoring in the outside of the mochi just has this beautiful green color and just ever ever so tender now this one has a beautiful purple color to it and i'm not sure what this one was it wasn't on the chart it had a little dimple right in the middle so cute like a little belly button and inside there's more bean paste azuki bean paste but this time it is smooth rather than being chunky now the outside of the mochi has a little flecks in it i can't smell what it might be i'm not really sure it almost looks like blueberry or something but let's give that a go see if i can figure it out um oh that's nice it tastes salty and it tastes slightly floral delicious i think that's sakura let me give that a go again that one is delicious it has a good amount of salt in it and i believe that sakura which is cherry blossom salted sakura blossoms yeah this one and the pie crust are my favorite so far i'm meaning so much watching it's so great now the next one i'm going to try is a more traditional hawaiian style mochi and it's called li koi and lilikoi is passion fruit and this has a great little square shape to it and look at the squeeze it is so tender and sticky oh my gosh i've never had a mochi like this before oh and i can smell the passion fruit ah it smells so fragrant all right let's give that a go oh that was so nice this one's really sticky and soft and so so tender and bouncy with a great flavor of passion fruit now passion fruit can be pretty tangy this isn't sour it has a little bit of sweetness but a clear present flavor of passion fruit absolutely delectable this one's very very sticky i like this one a lot very smooth lovely lovely texture and great flavor too now this one i'm super excited about this sweet little pink one has a maple leaf that was kind of singed right on top of this with a little stamp and this bright pink one has brownie in the middle isn't that great a mochi with a brownie in it yes here we go oh those are so good now this this one is worth replicating oh my goodness this one is outstanding you've got a buttery chocolatey decadent brownie bite in the middle surrounded by the wonderful texture of freshly made mochi which is chewy and sticky and bouncy and wonderful all right this one i need to make at home because this one is so good okay so okay so i think this one is my new favorite because i am a chocolate fiend but yes for all of you that recommended going to two ladies kitchen thank you thank you thank you because i'm confirming that this is absolutely wonderful i have not had one that i haven't loved yet moving on two number oh my gosh how am i eating this is number seven and this is a sweet little purple one and this one is okinawan sweet potato also known as ube i believe so it has this beautiful purple color and when you open it it has beautiful purple filling inside oh it smells sweet and lovely all right let's give that a go that one's really nice as well it is not artificially flavored it doesn't have a fake sweet potato flavor to it really naturally tasting very soft again texture on the outside chewy soft and tender and the inside is very smooth it has more of a texture of mashed potato a little bit different than the beans very very nice subtle more traditional flavored mochi the next i'm going to taste is not technically a daifuku but this is buttermochi which is made with mochiko flour which again is that sweet glutenous flour but this i believe is going to be more like a cake and this is butter mochi look at that it smells great too it smells kind of caramelized all right let's give that a go oh that has a very delightful and kind of unexpected texture it looks like a cake but when you bite into it the crumb is completely different because it uses mochiko or sweet glutinous rice flour it's got a chewy sticky texture to it so as you're biting into the cake it kind of develops into this kind of chewy mess that's similar to mochi but still very different this is much lighter and airier mmm so imagine taking a mochi and combining it with a pound cake you get something like this it's buttery and rich i'm not sure if there's any vanilla in it i don't think so just kind of a buttery sweetness the sweetness is very light like all kind of japanese style desserts very light present but not overwhelming absolutely delightful i love the texture of this as well now i saved one of my favorites for last now this is the strawberry daifuku now i saw these in japan and they were never this large they're probably half the size oftentimes they had more of a point now this one is a gigantor look at this isn't that beautiful that is one whole beautiful strawberry inside that has a bit of uncle bean paste on the outside and then it's all enrobed and very soft fresh mochi let's give this a go itadakimasu so good you've got the juicy ripe strawberry in the middle a little bit of the sweetened uncle paste and then again that wonderfully chewy bouncy mochi on the outside delicious absolutely delicious what i love and what i can taste in all these mochis is that these were made fresh these are freshly made they've not been languishing and sitting around the place was absolutely jumping i came back because i wanted to get a little insulated bag but the line was like out the door so i didn't get my insulated bag sadly but i did get my mochi and they're absolutely delicious a wonderful dessert not overly sweet made with all kinds of love and presented with such beauty if you are in hilo if you visit the big island definitely check out two ladies kitchen this is not a sponsored post this is just because this is amazing amazing mochi alrighty i hope you guys enjoyed that one i hope you guys learned something i hope you guys enjoy this beautiful backdrop that is big island hawaii and yeah thanks for tuning in please share this video with your friends follow me on social media like this video subscribe and i shall see you in the next one toodaloo take care bye 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