Friday, March 20, 2009

Mini Taiyaki

Just a quickie post today, although I do want to point out that it is the first official day of spring (hurray!) and of course it is snowing (WHAT). Darn it, winter, go away already!

Frozen Mini-Taiyaki

I went home to visit the folks last week and discovered by way of my mother an awesome product--frozen mini taiyaki! Taiyaki are fish-shaped Japanese cakes, usually filled with red bean paste and baked in cast iron fish-shaped molds (taiyaki literally means baked sea bream). I love them and can't get enough of them when I manage to get over to Mitsuwa, where they have a stand that makes them fresh.

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They come in a pack of 20, and you can see the approximate size of each fish; I'd say it's about 1/3 the size of a standard one that I get at Mitsuwa, which is probably good since I eat entirely too many of these. To prepare, simply microwave or toast briefly (or both). It's not quite the same as getting them hot off the grill, but it's a great option when I can't get to Edgewater. And besides, they're MINI taiyaki, and we all know mini=cute. The other thing I really like about these is that the red bean filling isn't totally smooth and has lots of whole red beans in it.

Pink & Hot Sun

And finally...since this sudden snowstorm is depressing me (after the last few days of relatively warm weather!), here is a photo of my newest office plant. I think it needs a name. Suggestions welcome!

4 comments:

Kelli said...

Thank you for posting this. I had them fresh and hot last summer and crave them, but couldn't find anything like it until today, I bought the larger ones. And I'm a bit disappointed, the store owner said to eat them frozen, which I tried and was totally disgusted! Then my son said to put them in the toaster. And it was much better but not anything like the ones I got at the Richmond Night Market.

tofugirl said...

Yeah, it's hard to beat the freshly made ones--I've actually considered buying a mold (you can get them on Amazon) and making them at home, but until I actually make that happen, the frozen mini taiyaki aren't a bad substitute! I definitely recommend microwaving first and then toasting, though...otherwise it doesn't seem to warm through all the way.

Thanks for stopping by! :D

kiki said...

where do you get this product?

tofugirl said...

Hi Kiki--I found them at a Korean supermarket (Hmart) but I've seen other brands at other Asian markets as well :)