Mother and daughter team-up to launch Toronto bakery that's getting lineups
Markham's secret mochi shop is run by a mother-daughter duo, and they're only open on weekends.
Tracy Cai started up a mochi home bakery business based in Markham called Chubbi Rice with her mom in September 2021. Cai took a break from her first full-time design job in the middle of lockdowns, and decided to pursue this with her free time.
"It gave me creative freedom that I felt was lacking from corporate work," Cai tells blogTO.
"Now I have a design job again but still do Chubbi Rice, just at a lower frequency than before."
Their mochi are all freshly hand-wrapped and contain scratch-made fillings made using seasonal fruits. They recommend consuming them within a day or two to preserve their quality, because they contain fresh fruit and no preservatives.
You can expect classics like hojicha strawberry daifuku mochi and Hawaiian butter mochi starting around $5 or $6. Seasonal options might include watermelon basil or mango pandan.
They're only available for pre-order online and stock runs out quickly. They've drawn lineups at pop-ups at places like Stackt and Auntie's Supply, sometimes selling out in just a couple of hours.
"We do sell out whenever a new flavour rotates in, since only my mom and I make them. They're all hand-wrapped so it's time consuming with a limit to how many we can do in a day," says Cai.
"We focus on fresh fruit daifuku mochis, something that is typically only found in Asia and Japan, but rarely done here even amongst other mochi businesses."
That means these aren't your average mochi like you'd find in the grocery store.
Although Cai and her mom mainly run the small business, by this point the whole family helps out. Keep an eye on their social media to see where you might be able to snag their fresh mochi in person next.
Chubbi Rice
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