Despite my feeble attempts to avoid reading or hearing others' opinions of certain products before trying them, I'd heard quite a few people stating how amazing Trader Joe's Black Sesame Mochi was before trying it myself. In some cases, that will push me in the direction of a biased positive opinion, not wanting to be the guy who says it's not that great.
In other cases, I'll get my hopes up. I'll expect something delicious to the point that if the product isn't over-the-top amazing, that I'll be disappointed to some degree if it's just okay. It's an "expectations vs reality" type problem.
I think the latter case is what happened here. This product...kinda tastes like dirt to me. It's like cookies and cream without the sweetness and only a fraction of the creaminess. If I were writing an ultra positive review, I suppose I'd be describing the flavor as earthy and nutty—which it is, to be fair. I might point to the product's restraint and subtle flavor as a plus.
Both Sonia and I love sesame. We like sesame seeds on breads and crackers, we like it as a topping for rice bowls and salads, and we enjoy other sesame derivatives like sesame oil and tahini. We're both even fans of crunchy sesame candy. If you're not sure what we're talking about, just do an internet search. There are dozens of brands that sell it now and plenty of recipes if you want to DIY. That candy tastes quite a bit like sesame...and so does this mochi. But I think that candy has a honey sweetness that balances the sesame's nuttiness better than the sugar in this handheld ice cream treat.
That's just me giving my honest opinion. I'm surprised the beautiful wifey agreed with me here. I think it's a flavor that could grow on both of us. It's unique. It's interesting. It's just more unusual to my palate than I was expecting it to be. Probably wouldn't buy Trader Joe's Black Sesame Mochi again, but I'd like to try other brands of black sesame ice cream just to compare. Blood Orange Mochi will still reign supreme in our household for the time being.
Found in the frozen aisle. Kosher. Gluten free. $4.99 for six mochi.
Scallops are one of my favorite foods of all time. As a youngster, the family would often head to the local Bonanza Steakhouse at the mall for weekend outings and special occasions. Their fried scallops were a favorite of mine. Since then, I've sampled scallops from fancy restaurants in various cities around the country. The absolute best I can remember came from The Warehouse in Marina del Rey. That scallop was about as big as a baseball and came served in a gourmet butter sauce.
The scallops I'd grown up with at Bonanza, on the other hand, were about the size of golf balls. And these "petite and sweet" little morsels from Trader Joe's are roughly the size of marbles after cooking. They're very tiny on the tongue, but they pack a big flavor.
Imported from the Patagonia region of Argentina, these teeny scallops are quite possibly the second best scallops I've ever sampled. They've got that same rich, buttery flavor that other scallops tend to have, but these are sweeter and more delicate. They're ten bucks for the four serving bag. Bonus: each serving is only 80 calories and flaunts 13 grams of protein.
Sonia did a great job of pan-searing these little guys, with a bit of help from Gordon Ramsay. They were thoroughly thawed, patted dry between two layers of paper towels, and then tossed into butter and oil for 90 seconds on each side. We made sure we had a temp of 145°F+ and they came out lightly crispy on the outside and tender yet slightly firm on the inside.
That first batch had nothing but a bit of butter and it was amazing. The next batch was fried in a butter mixture with garlic and lemon. We also used the garlic and lemon sauce on our radiatore pasta. This was one of the best, most luxurious meals we've ever had from Trader Joe's in our nearly 16 years of reviewing their products.
I'm sure it's quite easy to mess up the timing on the cooking, especially with such small scallops, but the value and flavor are absolutely there in Trader Joe's Patagonian Scallops. We'd both buy these again in a heartbeat. As much as we loved the recently-reviewed Black Cod Sablefish with Miso Marinade, we think this product is even better. The beautiful wifey will give these nine out of ten stars. I'll go with a very rare nine and a half.
