Donuts beyond mochi mochi: Mister Donut’s new donuts are so soft they’re almost drinkable

Japan’s favorite donut chain rolls out Micchurin donuts to celebrate its 55th anniversary.

“Mochi mochi” is a Japanese word that can be kind of difficult to explain, but is easy to feel. It refers to a consistency that’s soft and chewy, but also has a certain satisfying weightiness to it. As you can probably guess, mochi mochi is often used to describe the texture of mochi rice cakes and dumplings, but it’s also an apt description for the style of donuts made by Japan’s favorite donut chain, Mister Donut.

With Mister Donut celebrating its 55th anniversary this year, though, they wanted to do something special, and they’ve created some new treats that they promise “go beyond mochi mochi.”

Called Micchurin, these new baked goods took two years to develop, and Mister Donut says the result is a texture unlike anything else they’ve ever offered in the half-century plus of being in business, and that it’ll leave people amazed that donuts can feel like this.

Looking at their slightly amorphous shape, you might be tempted to think these extra-soft and chewy donuts are just donuts that are baked for an unusually short time. That’s not the case, though, as Mister Donut says the Micchurin are still fried donuts, but that their texture comes from a special coating that softens them up.

And just how soft are they? Well, when we picked one up at a press preview, our fingers immediately sunk into the dough!

Mind you, we weren’t trying to squeeze the Micchurin. We’d picked it up with the same gentle grip we always do when handling something as precious as a donut, but even that modicum of force caused it to indent. These new donuts are so soft that it almost feels like you could drink them.

There’s clearly potential here for all sorts of limited-time and seasonal Micchurin flavors, but to start Mister Donut is rolling out four kinds: kinako (cinnamon-like roasted soybean powder), mitarashi (a sweet soy sauce glaze traditionally poured on mochi dumplings), azuki (sweet red bean paste), and brown sugar with warabimochi, with prices ranging from 205 to 226 yen (approximately US$1.40-US$1.55).

The Micchurin donuts go on sale at Mister Donut branches across Japan on June 4.

Top image: SoraNews24
Insert images: Mister Donut, SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]