Many SoCal Asians live in ethnoburbs, which are ethnic suburbs.
We have them in NorCal too, although the urban sprawl isn’t as prevalent.
There are shopping centers that are filled with Asian businesses, comparable to more singular concentration, like neighborhoods that are called Chinatown or Japantown, such as in the city of San Francisco. The shopping center/plaza/area names don’t really count, slapped on is something suburban and westernized (Spanish, too) like Brookvale or something.
On a short SoCal trip, I went to Gardena, an ethnoburb with a large population of Japanese Americans, the highest in California (Wikipedia). I happened upon a Tokyo Central, Japanese super market. It was located in Pacific Square Shopping Center. (And my family was unfortunately in a Chinese seafood restaurant :()
I found local mochi:
Yakidango, which is a savory sweet treat. It also looks like the emoji 🍡, which has more colors, and is apparently sweet Dango (Emojipedia). Yaki means grilled (in Translate), which makes sense.
I thought it was really yummy!
Watch out for ingredients, some of the local Chikara Mochi had jello (which is usually non-vegan with gelatin).
I also bought this monaka snack pack, which was okay. It has a light rice plain shell. Maybe you'll like it if you like more plain.
Later, I also saw it in 99 Ranch, a more prominent Asian supermarket.
Arigato (thanks) for reading!
Jia Hui
2/2018. Pub. 12/2018