CityFood Magazine - Mashimaros Are More Fun

I happen to live a couple a blocks from both a T&T Supermarket (mostly Chinese/Japanese fare) and the H Mart (Korean/Japanese), as well as a five minute walk from Chinatown, and that has made my food shopping chores much more interesting in so many ways.

For example, the cold weather has lately been pushing a yen for hot chocolate, and maybe it's a childhood thing, but a mug of hot cocoa just never seems complete without a gooey marshmalllow or two bobbing about on the surface and getting in the way of my nose when trying to drink it.

So with that pressing need in mind, on a recent quest to the Asian market to pick up some mackerel, I made a side detour to the candy aisle. Imagine my surprise when I encountered not the same old bag of Kraft chemical sponge cubes but this colourful assortment of small brightly coloured cello bags, all decorated with hyper bunnies, Peanuts characters or anime heroes, and filled with marshmallows as small and rounded as quail eggs.

Most contained a soft jellied center in one of an assortment of flavours --- from the more prosaic chocolate, strawberry and vanilla to the Asian favourites of mango, green tea, red bean, and banana. (There was even a jellied Calpis version, Calpis being a Asian soft drink that hasn't made inroads into the North American market because the name sounds like ... well, you know.) But nothing in cuttlefish flavour, thank goodness. There was however, a blueberry version in case you needed to fool yourself into thinking you are still on your health kick.

All the brands were Japanese. Called mashimaro in Japan, marshmallows are apparently a big deal in that country. They've even found a way to use them in a competitive relay sport. (Cripes, how do they ever think up those things?!!)

Anyway, we all know the Japanese have a thing for cute, and these mashimaros are definitely all that: small, round and sweet; plus fresher and less gummy in taste and texture. They even melt down into the chocolate in a more refined fashion. Junk food they still may be, but more fun junk, and nothing quite so Frankenfood as you would find in the average pack of sugarless gum.

What's more, in these budget conscious times, they are even cheap.

Localvore Alternative: Check out the dreamy homemade creations of Butter, a Vancouver company located on Dunbar Street that makes homemade marshmallows in vanilla, toasted coconut and strawberry flavours. These are not so cheap, especially if you don't purchase them direct from the store, but that's because they are all made lovingly by hand and the ingredients are the real thing.