This afternoon we ordered 5 daifuku and 1 rice cake from Nam Dae Moon Rice Cake for snack. It came in nice paper bags, all individually packaged and still nice and cold. Uber Eats did a great job of delivering these delicacies in good condition. The only problem, as usual, was the waste. There was the outside piece of paper, then the clear plastic over, and inside were not 1, but 2 square trays with the decorated plastic wrapping. All just for daifuku! We really wish there was a better alternative to this packaging.
[Rowan] I didn’t really care.
[Sylvia] About the packaging? Why? You always care.
[Rowan] I was just too excited.
[Sylvia] That’s true. Daifuku is your favorite isn’t it?
[Rowan smiles] YEAAAHHHH….
[Rowan] Most of the daifuku were great.
[Sylvia] Which ones weren’t great?
[Rowan] The banana one was off the edge. I mean, not the best. I think I like it more in the cream style.
So here’s what we ordered. The top left one was Mango. Then moving to the right was Durian, and Salted Oreo with Ferrero Rocher (which came with its own oreo crumb topping). On the bottom row was the Strawberry, then Milky Banana, and finally, the purple one was poop [Gahh Rowan!! Stop typing!] Purple Sweet Potato & Sweet Red Bean.
[Declan] My favorite was the mango because it was nice and cold and my favorite fruit is mango. My second favorite was the strawberry. My least favorite was the smelly one.
[Sylvia] So basically you liked the cream filled ones. Those were my fav too. It was just the right balance of cream, filling, and rice cake. The rice cake wasn’t as thin as it could have been, but then again, I don’t think anything more delicate would survive delivery. And the smelly one is called Durian. It’s a special fruit. You can’t find it very easily in North America. Some people can’t stand the smell but I like it.
[Declan] I can’t stand the smell.
[Sylvia] You didn’t puke when you smelled it. And you ate it. That means you’re well on your way to liking it.
[Rowan] I wonder why they didn’t smush the banana in the daifuku.
[Sylvia] It’s because the banana one wasn’t daifuku. We ordered it as rice cake. It came in a roll instead of a ball. Do you remember what a daifuku is?
[Rowan] All I remember is a flavorful ball that we can eat.
[Sylvia] But that can be anything! Is a meatball a daifuku?
Let’s remind ourselves what Daifuku is. It’s a Japanese / Korean glutinous rice cake with a sweet filling. It’s literally filled mochi, and is different from dango which is made from rice flour instead of rice directly. In Japan it’s a popular snack and usually served with green tea. There are many different versions, from apricot to creme caramel. It’s Sylvia’s dream to travel to Japan or Korea one day to try them all. Until then, we will content ourselves with ones in the GTA.
Overall: 4.5/5
[Rowan] No. I think it’s 5/5.
[Sylvia] You think any daifuku is 5/5.
[Rowan] No.
[Sylvia] Yes. Even when I buy you crappy ones you relish them like they’re gold.
[Rowan] You found my darkest secret.
It’s really not a secret. Call anything a daifuku and Rowan will love it. Sylvia is planning to make a rice dessert with only kale powder and calling it daifuku. It will make Rowan happy and healthy.
Nam Dae Moon’s daifuku are better than most we’ve had. Including the ones we’ve been gobbling up from the local farmer’s market, which are handmade and quite decent.
What are the best ones we’ve ever had? The ones from Sakaski Fine Pastry in J-Town. Their daifuku are simply perfect and 100% authentic (authentic feeling anyway, what do we really know about daifuku). The strawberry one had a whole strawberry surrounded by a very very thin layer of red bean paste and an even thinner layer of mochi. In comparison, the Nam Dae Moon’s strawberry one had chopped up strawberry pieces in cream.
[Rowan] I hope you all keep my secret.
[Sylvia] Your secret is safe Rowan. Why don’t we talk about the Oreo Ferrero Rocher one? That one was unique. We’ve never tried one with a Ferrero in it before! Did you like crunchiness inside?
[Declan] Yes, I liked the amount of chocolate in it. I only wish they had a mango orange flavour.
[Rowan] I want passion fruit.
Why are children never satisfied?
[Declan] I only got a bit of the purple one but I think I would have liked it. Daddy did you like the purple one?
[Kevin] Yeah. I think it was a little too much taro though. I’d prefer less filling.
Well there you go, Rowan. 4.5/5 it is.
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