When The Queen of the South, Jane Go of Sugar & Spice, throws a staycation, not only does she make it so epic that everyone has to roll home, she makes sure that everyone goes with a little something more than fond memories!
Take, for instance, Chef Anna Chua's Kashi Makis from My Pink Wasabi! Anna dropped by for lunch with us at Prime Cafe at B Hotel and handed out boxes of her famous Kashi Maki! I had been wanting to try these babies out for so long, but just haven't had the time to head on over to The Collective in Makati for a box. Good news for us Southern folks, she's considering opening up a branch in Alabang, so I'm crossing my fingers I'll be seeing more of her around soon.
I was gifted with a beautiful pink box, filled with delicate kashi maki - a sweet hand-rolled cake crafted to look like the Japanese maki sushi. - just waiting to be unwrapped and shared. Or not. Sliding the box open, I was delighted with the little bite-sized works of art that lay inside. The kashi makis are best eaten when almost at room temperature, so don't pop them in the fridge if you plan on having them for dessert later in the day.
I took a big bite out of each kashi maki flavor to figure out what's what.
The Amarula is the one on the top left, made with pistachio cake with Amarula-infused milk and chocolate ganache with a dark chocolate wrap. This was really good - I wish there was more than one.
The Chocnut kashi makis are the two right next to the Amarula. Made with chocolate cake, peanut butter, milk chocolate wrap, and Chocnut bits, this was nice, but not as nutty as I wanted it to be.
Coconut Dream was right next to the Chocnut flavors, made with pistachio cake and a coconut white chocolate ganache with a white chocolate wrap topped with a pistachio.
Finishing off the top layer of the box was the Coffee Kahlua - almond cake with a coffee Kahlua dark chocolate ganache, milk chocolate wrap, and white chocolate chips on top.
I was excited for the Midnight Mint that was made with chocolate cake, peppermint tea-infused chocolate ganache, a dark chocolate wrap, and mint ebiko-looking jelly. Alas, it wasn't as minty as I had hoped it would be, but I polished it off, nonetheless.
My favorite of the lot was the addicting Nutella Sesame - chocolate cake with a Nutella dark chocolate ganache covered with black sesame seeds. There's just something about the creamy hazelnut spread and the nutty taste of the sesame seeds that just make this work!
The Oolong Berry is another tea-infused kashi maki made with almond cake, a strawberry white chocolate oolong tea-infused ganache with a white chocolate wrap and itsy-bitsy balls of strawberry jelly that looks a lot like salmon roe. Although pretty, this also falls a bit short in the taste department. Maybe something a bit stronger, like an Earl Grey infusion, would be better?
Jericho loved the White Matcha made with pistachio, green tea-infused white chocolate ganache and a white chocolate topper. Methinks it was more because it was the least covered in milk chocolate, but was surprised to discover it was because the white chocolate and pistachio cake marry together very well!
Murphy's Law (a.k.a. Raspberry Vodka) is made with almond cake, a raspberry vodka-infused dark chocolate ganache, a dark chocolate wrap, with a delicate berry roe on top. This was pretty good in my book, with a touch of vodka at the end.
One of Chef Anna's newest kashi makis is Chef's A'S Pop Secret made with chocolate cake, chocolate caramel ganache, dark chocolate wrap, and chocolate covered popcorn. I didn't get to try this though, as somebody (read: Jericho) already finished both kashi makis off! Soooo, I'm assuming it was pretty good.
I was surprised at how affordable My Pink Wasabi's kashi makis were. Get them in a Box of 4 (P140), a Box of 9 (P280) or a Box of 18 (P540), which make for cute gifts or giveaways - the box of 18 comes with steel chopsticks for that maki effect.
When mucking around Manila, and in need of something cool for a gift, give Chef Anna a call and order a box of Kashi Makis from My Pink Wasabi. They're so pretty, you'll think twice before eating them.
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My Pink Wasabi
+63 2 330 9291
Unit P 7274 The Collective,
Malugay St., Brgy. San Antonio
Makati
