ice top 2

Every time Häagen-Dazs comes out with a new ice cream flavor, we swear we can almost hear the collective groan of sweets lovers across Japan saying, “Darn it! Why do they have to come up with something so insanely tempting?” Well, it looks like they’ve done it again, this time using a traditional Japanese ingredient — mochi rice cakes! What? Cold, creamy ice cream and soft mochi, did you say? Now, that’s certainly caught our attention!

Actually, mochi, an essential ingredient in many traditional Japanese desserts, paired with ice cream is a proven combination that has been around for some time — the popular snack Yukimi Daifuku, which is essentially ice cream wrapped in mochi, is a hit product that has been on the market since 1981. But this is the first time Häagen-Dazs has come out with an item containing mochi.

Their new line of mochi ice cream, which they’re calling the “flower rice cake (hana mochi)”series, will be released next month in two flavors, “kinako soy bean powder with brown sugar syrup (kinako kuromitsu)” and “walnuts with sweet soy sauce (mitarashi kurumi)”.

▼Here’s the “kinako soy bean powder with brown sugar syrup” flavor that will come in a 92 ml (3.11 oz) cup.

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This flavor is made of kinako powder flavored ice cream mixed with a brown sugar syrup sauce, on top of which they’ve placed mochi and kinako powder. The refreshing flavor of kinako and the smooth ice cream plus the texture of the chewy mochi should make for a delightful combination.

▼And this is the “walnuts with sweet soy sauce” flavor, available in a 93 ml (3.14 oz) cup.

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This second flavor consists of a rich milk flavored ice cream topped with mochi and a sweet mitarashi soy sauce syrup. The sweet mitarashi sauce is most commonly used in mitarashi dango, a popular snack that involves mochi dumplings covered in the sauce. The golden brown soy sauce syrup in this case should make the ice cream look particularly appetizing.

Both flavors in the hana mochi line will be priced at 284 yen (US$2.43) and will be sold at convenience stores and supermarkets across Japan for a limited time starting from February 24.

So, fans of sweets should be looking forward with anticipation to the new flavors  from Häagen-Dazs, who once again seems to have done a delightful job of combining Japanese ingredients with ice cream. We, for one, can’t wait to try their first mochi infused offerings, because we’re always ready for some sweet magic from the masters of ice cream!

Source: Häagen-Dazs Japan press release (Japanese) via ITmedia (Japanese)
Photos: Häagen-Dazs Japan press release