Koreana Plaza Market Mochi: Inside the Koreana Plaza Market in Oakland is a small cash-only bakery with a variety of asian sweets, including lotus-paste-filled pastries (review forthcoming), pineapple buns, and almond cookies. I purchased a pack of two red-bean mochi (despite the oven-fresh sticker on the packaging, I'm pretty sure they were steamed). The mochi are about 125% the size of packaged mochi. Biting into a piece, I could instantly tell that it was very fresh. The glutinous rice flour had a bit more resistance than normal, giving it a fantastic and substantial chew. The red bean inside was not too sweet, either. Unfortunately, though, the dough was strangely salty, and the savoriness builds up as you eat the sizable piece. A shame because everything else about the mochi was excellent. 3.0/5.0

oakland sweets dessert japanese koreanaplazamarket mochi 3.0