Dave has been trying to figure out for years what the equivalent of a nice box of chocolates is for me. See, because I’m a gummy candy kind of lady. A box of chocolates is great…but I’d rather have some Haribo Twin Cherries. He’s gone the obvious route (an actual bag of Haribo Twin Cherries) and the fun route (old-timey gummies).
This year, he knocked it out of the park.
You have probably passed Minamoto Kitchoan on Market Street downtown, and noticed its French-inspired gilded and pastel decor. Where the jellies and mochi are perfectly aligned and spaced out behind glass cabinets.
The store sells a wide variety of extremely fancy mochi and treats, from Tokyo Ginza Rokumeikan.
He picked up some Chocolate Mochi — whipped chocolate mousse wrapped in chocolate mochi and covered in chocolate cookie crumbs. It’s like biting into a soft pillow of deep chocolate flavor. The Langue de Chat cookies were crispy, paper-thin wafers with a smear of dense chocolate or green tea cream in the middle.
The mochi came with whole preserved persimmon inside. The jellies, the closest thing to actual gummy candy, burst with the flavor of white peach and banana.
And finally, the box of Chocolate Grace Dew Fruit Jelly. A thin layer of chocolate over fruit jellies in a traditional looking box of chocolates. For someone who prefers gummy candy, this was just the right amount of chocolate to pair with the citrusy and flavorful fruit jellies inside.
The packaging, as you can see, is immaculate.
I also love food surprises and intrigue, and this was something I’d never had before. So, each bite was a question mark, followed by concentration and closed eyes to figure out what I was eating. So not only was the mochi extraordinary, the process of eating them was an exciting adventure — all from the comfort of our living room, with a baby sleeping down the hall. It’s not often that you can feel absolutely transported to a different place and time in your life, all without having to hire a babysitter.
Just perfect for a sweet and pampering Mother’s Day.
(If you don’t live in San Francisco, Minamoto Kitchoan does deliver. Check out their site for even more mochi options.)
