This one is slightly convoluted. The food I got was made in Taiwan, by a Taiwanese company (the Royal Family Food Corporation), but the type of food itself is Japanese in origin. Specifically, a type of rice cake called mochi. This is yet another find from the superlative Wegman's supermarket, in the Rochester, NY area.
Mochi is made from a kind of Japanese short grain, glutinous rice. This rice is pounded into a paste, and then molded into the desired shape. There is quite a variety of mochi types--some are more savory, some are more sweet, and some are even put into soups. The traditional method of making mochi is extremely labor intensive. Now, of course, machinery makes this process much quicker and easier. The exact origins of mochi are rather murky. The first recorded instances are from the Yayoi period, or 300 B.C. to 300 A.D. Mochi has also run the gamut in prestige. During its long history, it's been known as the "food of the gods," as a religious offering, part of the New Year celebration, and more recently, a good luck symbol for weddings. The type of mochi I tried appears to be daifuku, which is a soft, round, variant with a sweet filling, such as sweetened red bean paste. Other countries in the region have their own mochi-like dishes. For example, China, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan all make their own take on it.
As I learned from the company website, the Royal Family Food Corp. was founded in 1985, and incorporated in 1986, by a Mr. Huang Zhiming and his unnamed wife. Royal Family started as a meat company, but market decline after a few years led them to diversify in the early 1990's. At about this time the owners were dazzled by Japanese mochi, and went to Japan to learn about recent manufacturing techniques and machinery to make mochi. So, in 1992, with the help of these Japanese manufacturing innovations, Royal Family started making its own Japanese-style mochi. Currently they make many different flavors. Some of these include coconut, taro, sesame, peanut, red bean, pumpkin, brown sugar, peach, blueberry, sweet potato, strawberry, and even wormwood molasses (See October 18, 2015 post). Other products include pastries and egg rolls. The company now exports to 42 nations around the world.
1) Royal Family Food Corp. red bean mochi. Each individual mochi is about 3 cm. (about 1.25 inches) to a side, and is a rounded square shape. They came 6 to a box. They were whitish-yellow on the outside, with a red center, from the red bean filling, obviously. The texture of the outside was very soft, and the filling was jelly-like. The flavor wasn't that sweet, only slightly. But still good.
2) Royal Family Food Corp. taro mochi. Same size, number, and shape as the red bean kind. Color was light purplish-brown, with a brown center. Had a similar dense, filling texture, too. Also was only slightly sweet, yet oddly tasty. Weird flavor, but still good.
3) Royal Family Food Corp. peanut mochi. Same number in the box, size, and shape as its siblings. With its brown powdery exterior, it kind of reminded me of a chicken cutlet in appearance, with a brown center. My favorite of the bunch, which makes sense due to my love of peanut butter. Same heavy texture, and the flavor was once again a little strange, but still very positive.
Therefore, as you can tell, I was quite taken with Royal Family's mochis, and would certainly buy them again, or try alternate flavors if given the chance. I would also try other companies' versions of mochi, and other countries' variants. One note of caution, however. Over 100 people a year, mostly elderly folks, are hospitalized in Japan alone from accidentally choking on mochi. There are even unfortunate cases of people dying from suffocation from them. Which I can understand, given the treat's full, dense nature. There's even a warning on the Royal Family mochi boxes about this very thing. So enjoy your mochi, but do so carefully, using smaller bites, etc.
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