Ichigo daifuku season is back
Interviewer: So we would like to talk all about the Ichigo Daiku. So we’re excited that it’s back. So tell us all about it.
Chef Mike: Ichigo Daifuku is a mochi dessert. Ours, it’s with Anko, Japanese red bean paste. Just sweet red bean, chantilly cream, and fresh strawberry, all wrapped in a thin sheet of mochi. We started doing it a few years back, five or six years ago.
We take a lot of influences, ingredients, and styles to make this one. It’s a very popular item in Japan, especially around this time of year because it’s Strawberry season. So we decided to put it together and kind of make our version of it. In Japan, traditionally, it doesn’t often come with whipped cream, but we added that to make our own style.
The texture has a nice, chewy, mochi exterior with fresh strawberries in the middle. You get the sweetness and a little tartness from that. And the whipped cream kind of helps lighten the texture with the sweet red bean anko.
We usually run it from trying to hit a good strawberry season, so we usually try and do it from April until the end of the summer. We started a little bit earlier this year in March. So probably run it like I said, probably until August, maybe September, depending on the quality of the strawberry.
And also the mochi that we get from Japan, still has some shipping delays and shipping issues with getting some products. So we’re trying to do as much as possible because I know it’s a very popular item and people ask for it for a whole year and see it on our website and start calling in January to see if it’s ready yet.
So obviously it’s a fan favorite. So we try to do as much as possible. Right now we’re limited to 20 a day. We’re hoping we can increase that as we get into the summer. And we also limit it to five per person, five per customer, just so that we’re able to try and let people, as many people as possible, enjoy it. So one person is not buying up the entire stock, especially now that we can only do a limited amount.
The best occasion is to make the daifuku occasion. It’s a nice snack or it’s also a nice gift.
Get up to five in a box and bring it to somebody. It’s a nice little presentation, like a box of donuts or like a box of daifuku, and yeah, kind of a quick one.
We have it available from 12 pm every day. And we do have a line that starts to form around 11:30. I think there was one day we sold out in under a minute. We just put it out and our staff didn’t even put it in the showcase. It was just sold and done. So get there early, and good luck!
Interviewer: Perfect! Thank you.