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Food & Drink: Mochi doughnuts may be too pretty to eat

These Instagram-inspired treats from River Maiden taste as sweet as they look

By Rachel Pinsky
Published: June 7, 2019, 6:04am
2 Photos
Mochi doughnuts at River Maiden.
Mochi doughnuts at River Maiden. Photos by Rachel Pinsky Photo Gallery

Mochi Mondays at River Maiden began when co-owner Aaron Flies found photos of mochi doughnuts on Instagram. “Aaron follows everyone on Instagram,” explained Melissa Layman, his wife and business partner.

But moving from an Instagram photo to a product to serve to customers was a bumpy ride. “The first ones were horrible failures,” Layman said. So Layman enlisted the help of her employee, Bronwyn Akimseu, and Bronwyn’s mom, Carolyn. Carolyn had a family recipe for Hawaiian butter mochi. Layman successfully adapted a lighter version of that dough for her mochi doughnuts.

The main ingredient in the doughnuts is Mochiko sweet rice flour, which is made by grinding glutinous rice. Despite its name, glutinous rice is gluten free. It gets its name because it gets very sticky when cooked. This rice is used in many countries for sweet and savory dishes. It’s commonly found here in Thai sticky rice with mango and Japanese mochi filled with sweetened bean paste or ice cream. If you want to play around with mochi dough at home, Trader Joe’s recently released a mochi cake mix.

The dough doesn’t need to ferment or proof — it’s ready to use as soon as it is mixed. These doughnuts are baked, not fried, giving them a lighter taste.

“The problem is that you can eat five of them,” Layman said.

What Layman sees as a problem, I consider an opportunity. On the morning I visited, I tried all four varieties of doughnuts available — a peach-colored guava hibiscus with Chinese five spice topped with a line of black flax seeds; lemon garnished with a small triangle of candied lemon and a dusting of hibiscus powder; a jam-colored marionberry and raspberry with a line of dry berry dust; and lime green matcha with magenta petals of candied hibiscus sprinkled on top. As I gazed into the box, the doughnuts were so perfectly exquisite that I wondered if I had wandered into some foodie’s Instagram feed.

The cake was dense, like a pound cake, but springy and slightly sweet. The lemon glaze added a zesty citrus tang to the sweet dough. The five spice powder in the guava glaze added warm flavors (cinnamon, cloves, anise) and heat (Szechwan peppercorns). The marionberry and raspberry was like an inside-out jelly doughnut. The matcha glaze was made with high-quality matcha from Mizuba in Portland.

The doughnuts have sold well every Monday. Soon, Flies and Layman are planning to serve them all week. Layman looks forward to summer glazes such as roasted peach, berries with flower essences, a berry cucumber glaze with mint, lavender and “whatever strikes the fancy of my crew with all the seasonal produce coming on.”

The mochi doughnuts go well with River Maiden’s superb matcha drinks, made with high-quality Mizuba Matcha and prepared in the traditional way — whisked in a small bowl. Their boba drink, Boba Fett (because all things Star Wars are worshipped at River Maiden), is the best boba drink you’ll find in Vancouver. It’s a cold layered drink with matcha, Oatly oat milk and seasonal housemade syrup. Strawberry rhubarb syrup is currently available — other rotating syrups will be added as summer fruit is harvested.

Rachel Pinsky can be emailed at couveeats@gmail.com or follow her on Instagram and Facebook @couveeats.

If You Go

What: River Maiden.

Where: 5301 E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver.

Hours: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday; mochi doughnuts are currently available only on Mondays.

Contact: 360-694-7500 or www.facebook.com/pg/RiverMaiden

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