In early 2016, when Wong randomly remembered the mochi and looked around online, he couldn’t find it in New York. But he figured he would find them soon enough on the trendy New York food scene and “kind of forgot about them for a year.” He came across the whimsical water cakes online in 2015 and was intrigued. Wong, originally from LA, has never been to Japan. He modeled his dessert after mizu shingen mochi, which – he said – roughly translates to “Japanese water cakes.” The Raindrop Cake website – – describes the confection as “a light, delicate and refreshing raindrop made for your mouth.”īoth the website and the cake were developed earlier this year by Wong, a 36-year-old digital brand strategist in New York who has since quit advertising to focus on his new food business. It’s about everything: the presentation, the visual experience, the toppings.” ‘Playful food’ Raindrop Cake is not just something you eat. “I’m not just selling a food item,” Wong said. The texture is supposed to be part of the appeal. I think the American palate finds jelly things kind of weird.” “People are nervous about it,” said Raindrop Cake creator Darren Wong. It’s a conversation starter, something that piques curiosity, maybe even a bit of awe, uncertainty, incredulity. Raindrop Cake is glassy-looking and shaped like an oversized drop of dew. By then, it was already an internet sensation. I had come across photos online of the see-through sweet, which debuted in spring at Smorgasburg in New York and arrived at the LA event in mid-June. Raindrop Cake was the reason I made a beeline for Smorgasburg. I had flown down for a three-day beach weekend. I was standing in one of the few shady spots at Smorgasburg LA, a weekly food fair held at the 5-acre Alameda Produce Market in downtown Los Angeles. It was wiggly, jiggly, but not as thick nor as firm as gummy candy or Jell-O or gelatin – all things to which it’s been compared. But before my first bite, I couldn’t resist the urge to poke the thing. The first time I had a Raindrop Cake, I chose black sugar syrup. Black sugar and matcha green tea syrups provide a gentle sweetness. Toasted soy flour lends a mild nuttiness that, when mixed with the melty “cake,” tastes a little like peanut butter. But water still.Īccompaniments add to the taste and texture. Bring a friend so you can work together to corner it as you get near the last few bites, as it will wiggle all across the plate if you don't.It tastes wet. One does not simply scoop up a bite of raindrop cake-you have to be willing to attack this thing to get it on your spoon, it somehow existing as both tough and jiggly at the same time. You might feel guilty at first, knowing that you’re going to ruin this gem with your spoon, but the truth is you’re going to have seriously commit to eating this thing. If I still used Instagram, I’d be proud to post a photo of it.īut the spell breaks pretty quickly once it comes time to eat it. The one The Bep serves is a beautiful color, and I enjoyed the simple, clean plating. Even though I know how they’re made and have a rough idea of the chemistry involved, I won’t deny that seeing one in person was still kind of magical. There’s no denying that a raindrop cake looks impressive. I can think of no dish that better conjures questions of form versus function than it, so when I found out that it was available at The Bep in Chinatown, I decided to drop in and see if it would baffle me the way it has baffled other Houstonians. Houstonia has sat down with this dish before, but recent news of a new location serving it up put it back on our radar.
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