anyone had any experience with these?

being on the mainland it would be nice to offer an authentic experience.

do they add value? what are the how-to's etc? where do you get them?

thanks

I'm in So Cal, there is a chain of Asian markets (99 market) that carries red bean paste.... AKA Azuki beans. I'm still looking for the Mochi Balls though. A small can is around $2.50 or so. If you want to offer "authentic" shave ice then I would recommend the purchase. I have to because there are so many Asians and Islanders here in my area. I would feel guilty not to offer them................

In Torrance, CA, Japanese markets such as "Marukai" carry actual sweetened Adzuki beans in cans. They also carry the starch (glutinous rice flour) name brand "Kochiko" to make Mochi balls. I went to youtube to find out "how to make mochi balls". You can also make Adzuki beans but it is a long process. These raw beans are also sold at Marukai.
I used to sell them but it is not really that popular where I sell it (really depends on your demographics). Some people just don't want to try anything new....(well new to them). Even suggesting sweetened condensed milk (snow cap) some don't want it....Everytime I serve shave ice ony about 1 or 2 people would ask for adzuki beans or mochi balls out of 100. I just acknowledge them that I know what it is, but I would make it for catering events (special requests).

Yeps, that is correct Kiana! I've seen them myself too, but the process of it is really tedious and long. So I just buy the one that is ready-to-serve from shaveicesupplies.com as far as the Azuki beans is concerned. As far as the mochi balls, I tried using the glutinous rice flour too! It's ....not as easy as i had hope for in terms of the quality that i desire. The process and time spent on it and the demand is just not high enough for me to venture into either..

Where I am located there is not a lot of requests for Azuki beans and the cans from shaveicesupplies.com are so big they spoil before I can use them so unless I can find an asian market in my area that has them in smaller cans I am going to stop selling them.

Do the Azuki beans have to be refrigerated all the time? Are they served cold? Do you cover the top of the shave ice in the beans and put the mochi balls around the base? Thanks

Yes they need to be refrigerated and we put them in the bottom of the shave ice. Let me know if u find a place to get smaller cans of the pre sweetened beans please...thanks

dfl138 wrote:Yes they need to be refrigerated and we put them in the bottom of the shave ice. Let me know if u find a place to get smaller cans of the pre sweetened beans please...thanks

Have you checked Hmart in your area? Most asian markets will carry small cans

http://www.hmart.com/company_new/shop_main.asp

Just had one of those markets open here so I will have to go check it out...thanks