Apo Apo

Mochi lovers and shaved ice lovers listen up! Hie thee to Apo Apo in Rowland Heights (in the Little Bean/Newport Seafood/Happy Family plaza on Colima and Azusa).

I've always loved shaved ice made with what's known in Taiwan as black sugar. In its best form, black sugar is barely processed cane sugar that is both wet and very dark brown. It has a deep burnt caramel flavor while at the same time not being as saccharine as sugar. The concept has been catching on. And while I'm not sure if places in the US are actually importing black sugar or just cooking down brown sugar, I'm happy that black sugar shaved ice is gaining in popularity.

This weekend, after a morning in the sun, I found myself at Apo Apo for the first time, sitting in front of a gorgeous bowl of shaved ice. Apo Apo's biggest selling point: they do something called hot n' cold ice! The mochi poured into the middle of the mountain of ice is hot, so when the bowl's brought out it's actually steaming quite fiercely. The mochi eventually cools down, but while they're warm the pieces are extra soft and delicious.

The price for a bowl of ice, black sugar, and condensed milk is $3.50, plus fifty cents per topping. My sister and I shared a bowl with pink and white rice mochi, purple and orange taro mochi, peanuts, and red beans. Next time I would add grass jelly, because Apo Apo makes their own mochi instead of using canned.

There was also a bowl of mango shaved ice at our table.

And a plate of fresh mochi rolled in crushed peanuts and sugar ($4). These were amazing. If you order them, eat them as soon as they arrive at the table because they're hot and best before the steam from the mochi makes the peanut powder soggy. I haven't had so much soft, chewy happy making fresh mochi in a long time. Even though I think the black sugar at Life Plaza and the mango snowflake ice at 301 Class are better, Apo Apo wins the blue ribbon for mochi creations.