Sakuraya Strawberry Daifuku

Who doesn't love a good daifuku?

The Attraction

I've hopped in and out of many a Chinese, Japanese and Korean grocery stores in my day and have seen several variations of daifuku. There are some great local variations, but one commercial brand I have seen over and over again in this neck of the woods is this Sakuraya brand. There must be something to this right?

The Review:
I'm no stranger to daifuku. One of my favorite things about it is the wonderfully chewy mochi or glutinous rice exterior. I like that aspect so much, the filling almost isn't even a factor. Is there anway I wouldn't enjoy these? I've had some locally made versions before, but I have yet to try Sakuraya's version. Let's hope they don't ruin this me.

"Ahh, nice and squishy"

I take my nice package of 4 daifuku balls home and crack it open. In addition to the red hue, the slight smell of strawberries gives away what flavor awaits inside. As I pick one up, I give it a slight squeeze; the texture is firm, yet soft. That's a good sign. Daifuku any other way just isn't daifuku to me.  

I bring the mochi up to my mouth and take a nice size bite. The texture and mouth feel is as what I would have guessed from with my "squeeze" test; a firm, chewy exterior that gives way to a milky strawberry filling. The mochi flavor itself is rather mild. Slightly sweet, but when you hit the filling, the familiar artificial strawberry flavor that you commonly associate with Asian snacks appears. I've come to accept this with Asian snacks, but thankfully Sakuraya was wise enough to tone it a few notches to not overwhelm the more subtle mochi flavor all together.

Three more to look forward to

The Sweet:
All the great things about daifuku! Great texture and chewiness

The Bitter:
Artificial strawberry flavor, but they all have that to an extent

Conclusion:
Honestly, this review may have been a bit of a "gimme", but like that hypothesis about how a women can identify a man she would like to be romantic with within seconds and its the man's job to not say anything stupid to mess it up, Sakuraya let it's daifuku do just enough of the talking to ensure everyone ends up a winner tonight. 

Video of the Week 
Anyone that loves sushi probably has ambitions to one day to go to Japan and watch the tuna auctions and then have a chance to sample some of the winnings for that day. Though it may be a while before I can do that, here's a video of some English blokes doing just that.

 "Is it me or does it smell like fish in here?"