By Annette Chan
10 December 2021
Copyright © 2022 LOCALIIZ | All rights reserved
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Check out Humans of Hong Kong, our newest video series focused on telling Hong Kong stories!
Header image courtesy of Doriti (via Shutterstock)
Soft, sticky, and addictively chewy, mochi has been a traditional delicacy widely enjoyed across Asian cultures for thousands of years. It continues to be a well-loved, fun-to-eat snack for any occasion. On its own, the squishy treat carries just a mild and starchy flavour—it’s primarily made of grounded glutinous rice and water, after all—and so it has the potential to take on endless sweet (and savoury!) forms. Sure enough, mochi has found its way into all manners of cuisines and recipes, but to satisfy the true chewy food fanatics out there, we’ve rounded up the ultimate places for the best mochi in Hong Kong!
No need to hop on a plane to Japan to get an authentic taste of traditional daifuku (大福; a small and glutinous Japanese confectionary with a sweet filling)—Mochi Sweets will transport you to the land of the rising sun in no time! Boasting an extensive and refined menu of Japanese daifuku, you can find all the classic filling options here, like red bean ($16) and strawberry ($16) as well as more modern—but no less tasty—variants like cookies & cream mousse ($16) and white peach oolong ($17). Aside from nailing the flavours and mochi-to-filling ratio, these pillowy-soft bites are also exquisitely packaged in dainty boxes, making them great for gifting. What more could you ask for?
Cheung Chau is home to many iconic eats—giant fish balls, red bean pastries, fried ice-cream... the list goes on; but if there’s one thing you absolutely cannot leave the island without trying, it’s the famous mango mochi ($15) at Wan Sing Dessert. The storefront of this local dessert shop may be simple and minimally adorned but the constant queue of people outside speaks for itself. Rolling out generous, thick-cut slices of sweet, juicy mango wrapped in a thin layer of squishy mochi, Wan Sing Dessert has visitors flocking here in droves all year-round. While the mango mochi is hands-down their best-seller, we personally think the durian mochi ($15) is equally mouth-watering!
Wan Sing Dessert (允升甜品), G/F, 5 San Hing Street, Cheung Chau | (+852) 2981 5032
If Cheung Chau is a little too far out of the way, you can still get your fix of mango mochi just a few minutes’ walk away from Wan Chai MTR station at Chung Kee Mochi! They offer the delicious, fruit-filled nugget in four different sizes ranging from medium ($16) to extra-large ($20), but we say go big or go home! Using only premium quality Carabao mangos from the Philippines, you can be sure that the mango filling will be sweet, juicy, and bursting with tropical flavour! While you’re here, give the kiwi or durian mochi a try as well!
Chung Kee Rice Dumplings, Shop B, G/F, 289 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai | (+852) 2511 1428
A long-standing neighbourhood favourite in Sham Shui Po, this unassuming local bakery is famed for selling traditional Chinese pastries and sweets for prices that are almost too good to be true. Just take a bite of their signature peanut mochi ($10) and you will understand what the hype is all about. The mochi layer is thin yet chewy, giving way easily to the heaping portion of filling made of sugar and finely ground peanuts. It’s simple and unpretentious, but you will recognise the quality of the peanuts as soon as you catch a whiff of the strong, nutty aroma—it’s the kind that only comes from using freshly roasted peanuts!
San Lung Cakeshop, G/F, 68 Pei Ho Street, Sham Shui Po | (+852) 2360 1359
Started by then-20-year-old university student Sum Sum in 2013, this Instagram dessert shop quickly expanded to a brick-and-mortar location within two short years and has become a mainstay in Kwun Tong’s dessert scene ever since—all thanks to the owner’s ingenious creation of Maltesers mochi ($20)!
Comprising a sweet and crunchy Maltesers chocolate embedded inside a chewy mochi skin, and coated with just enough bitter cocoa powder to offset the sweetness, it’s the ultimate textural and flavour combination you never knew you were missing! Among the eight moreish flavours, the mint chocolate and salted caramel versions are absolute must-tries.
Sum Sum Dessert, Room 1305, 13/F, Entrepot Centre, 117 How Ming Street, Kwun Tong | (+852) 6601 1523
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to enjoy a mochi inside-out, then head over to Check-in Taipei and tuck into their Taiwanese-style homemade milk mochi! Instead of having the filling encased in the mochi, you are presented with a melty milk-flavoured mass that you’re meant to cut into pieces with chopsticks and roll into your choice of either ground peanuts ($75), black sesame ($75), or Oreo crumbs ($85). Sure, it takes a bit of work and it can get a little messy, but who can deny the fun in playing with your food? Especially with a mochi dough that’s as pliable as putty!
Check-in Taipei, 27 Hollywood Road, Central | (+852) 2351 2622
A wanderer, chronic overthinker, and baking enthusiast, Beverly spent much of her childhood in the United States before moving to Hong Kong at age 11 and making the sparkling city her home. In her natural habitat, she can be found baking up a storm in her kitchen, journalling at a café, or scrolling through OpenRice deciding on her next meal.
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