Lanikai Mochi

Butter Mochi at the Pearlridge Farmer's Market...My good friend's birthday was last week. We were supposed to go out and celebrate... then the second StayAtHome Order happened for Oahu. My friend was so bummed that she didn't want to do anything for her birthday even though she took off from work. I finally convinced her to go with me to the Pearlridge Farmer's Market on Saturday, September 5. Picking her up at 7:30am from her house in Kaneohe sealed the deal. We were going to have a Fun Foodie Adventure!Finding the entrance to the Pearlridge Farmer's Market was challenging. I thought that it was located by Sears where the Leonard's Malasadamobile is. Nope.We drove up by the Pieology/Macy's area... nope.We looked around the Gen/Uncle's parking lot... and around Ross... nope. We read a review that stated it was near Pali Momi... not really. The entrance is on Moanalua Road, between Ross and Kaonohi Street.We walked around and nothing really caught our attention until we found Lanikai Mochi. I was really drawn to the owner, Janet Ishikawa, who started the business in January of 2020 after her husband told her to either do it or stop talking about starting a business. Haha! We all need someone to help us make our dreams become realities, right?Anyway, Janet was very friendly and answered my questions logically. I have tried to make butter mochi in the past and failed because my recipes turn out too oily, too sticky, and leave a fingerprint on the top when I cut the mochi to separate the sticky squares and place them into cupcake papers.Janet explained that each of her mochi have crusts on all 4 sides of the squares. That means that she has molds into which the batter is poured and individual pieces are baked, then popped out of the molds into perfect shapes! The finished products are professionally wrapped and labeled with a list of ingredients used and expiration dates! Wow! That's excellent work!There were many flavors to choose from. I narrowed down to four and gave them each an award:Original flavor: The Purist's Award - for those who enjoy the basic, simple things in life. Peanutbutter Mochi: Best Dressed (because it was topped with a peanut - nice attention to detail!)Ube Mochi: Best Texture! I believe that there were some bits of Macadamia nuts which enhanced the chew factor and pumped up the flavor! Yes! Note: The color is natural, so it doesn't look purple.Lilikoi Mochi: Best Tasting! I was totally caught off guard and expecting to not enjoy this Passionfruit mochi as much as I did! It reminded me of a lemon bar, but not as tart. The smooth bounciness was a pleasant experience!I'm so glad that I tried these local flavors of Lanikai Mochi. It makes me want to go back for the Matcha, Kona Coffee, and Banana Nut varieties!Good luck to Janet Ishikawa and her Hot and New Business! Thanks for sharing your creative and delicious talents with us!

The mochi had good taste. The filling was also good I would buy it again I will let others know about the mochi