Hello, Mochi!! Happy Hearts Mochi! ^_^

My mom is absolutely crazy for mochi, and I'm pretty sure that it is because of her that I am just as addicted to mochi. Since I've got here, we've had our share of various types of mochi for breakfast, mochi for lunch, mochi for dinner, and always, mochi with dessert. Last week, Jamie (who owns The Bead Gallery, go check it out!) hooked me up with some fresh, gorgeous mochi from Happy Hearts Mochi, a locally run business that does mochi to order.

I was tempted to eat the whole thing by myself in one seating, but I waited for my mom, and we devoured it in the car. No worries, we saved a bite of each for my dad. So ono!
This is the mini-bento sampler. One each of the peanut butter mochi, and three types of haupia mochi. So cheerful looking, never fails to make me smile :)
The Strawberry & Azuki Mochi comes individually packed...ahh so cute!!
Removed...
...and bitten! A super juicy, fresh strawberry is wrapped in azuki bean paste, and then supple soft and chewy mochi. Man, you guys in NYC are missing out ;)
Next up is the Peanut Butter & Azuki Bean mochi. My mom REALLY liked this one (I like the Haupia ones more)...but we both agreed that the Strawberry Mochi is without a doubt, #1.
Ay-yah...look at that...enough to make you swoon. Peanut butter in the center, azuki bean paste in the middle, and fresh mochi outside.
The other three mochis were all different flavours but shared a common haupia center. This haupia is killer. Smooth and not too sweet at all, creamy. You gotta refrigerate them otherwise it'll go bad quick. First one up: Hazelnut Coffee Haupia Mochi...
...bitten! Check out that haupia, you can do no wrong :)
Then, the plain Haupia Mochi...
...simple, classic, ono.
And now my dad's favourite, the Chocolate Haupia Mochi, with a layer of chocolate cream/pudding tucked in the bottom...
...it kind of reminds me of the chocolate from Ted's Chocolate Haupia pies...only better.

Super thanks to Jamie for the mochi! This totally made my Hawai'i trip...read more on Hapa-Hale, the Honoulu Advertiser blog, and check out this seasonal pumpkin-haupia mochi. Awesome ^_^

Happy Hearts Mochi
Website
Can order here