28 Dec Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Mochi Donuts from Chef Shirley Chung

One bite of the delicate chewiness of the mochi donuts and I was hooked. On the outside, they looked like normal donuts, round with a hole in the middle. One flavor was matcha and the other black sesame. But, I took a bite and it was light and airy yet tenderly chewy and that is why the mochi donuts from Chef Shirley Chung are the Please The Palate Pick of the Week.

Mochi donuts are a hybrid of an American doughnut and Japanese mochi.  Mochi donuts are not sugary-sweet like a glazed doughnut. They are made with glutinous rice flour. The donuts are fried and then topped with icing or topping. The result is a delicious donut that is slightly crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

I enjoyed my mochi donuts at Abernethy LA, the new restaurant at the Music Center Plaza in downtown LA. The concept of this restaurant is to showcase emerging Los Angeles chefs. The inaugural chef featured is Chef Shirley Chung of Ms Chi Cafe in Culver City. She created a menu of progressive Chinese American cuisine and many of the dishes were specially created for Abernethy.

Chef Chung’s menu at Abernethy runs through the end of December 2019 but luckily, her mochi donuts are still be available as they are a standard item on her Ms Chi Cafe menu! This is wonderful news as mochi donuts, the Please The Palate pick of the week, are my new obsession.