The crew at Rokaru Shabu Shabu is excited about their new, sweet partnership with local bakery Maui Manjookie. You can get your hands on several of their delicious desserts at our restaurant in Pearl City.
Pronounced Mon-Juu-Key, this new, innovative pastry is a combination of a cookie-manju-pie crust filled with a mixture of fresh homemade fruit fillings. The fruit fillings are inspired by seasonal fruit and Island favorites.
For those of you who don't know what a manju is, it a baked Japanese treat with a bread-like bun encrusted with azuki, a sweet bean filling. Manjookie offers a new twist on an old fashioned favorite. Their unique buttery, flaky pastry is sure to fulfill everyone's sweet craving from the young child to the elderly. Manjookies are made with 100% butter, Madagascar Vanilla Bean and locally sourced fruits when available.
Rokaru Shabu Shabu owners Reid Watanabe and Mark Ishii knew it would be a sweet partnership because they strive to support other local businesses and they love Manjookies.
We talked story with the creator of Manjookies, Maui resident Jannelle.
1. What inspired you to create the cookies?
I love cookies, manju and pies as my go to dessert. I thought of creating my original crust and filling recipe for family friends to enjoy. I noticed that children did not care for the taste of the traditional manju filled with azuki beans and the crust lacked flavor. Thus, I opted to make my own creation of what became a Manjookie.
2. Where does the name “Manjookie” come from?
Being that I wanted to create and original pastry, I decided to combine words together and my best friend & I came up with Manju-cookie-pie (Man-joo-kie) as my brand and product name.
3. How long have you been making these delectable treats?
10 years.
4. Wow! Ten years. What other delicious treats do you have?
Cookies, cold desserts such as (pumpkin crunch, cheesecakes, brownies, energy bars, chocolate dipped pretzels, mochi crunch, oreo cookies, baked manapua, clam dips and chips.
5. Which items are the ones featured at Rokaru Shabu Shabu?
- Li-hing gummi bears, strawberries and colas (Juicy wet style)
- Manjookies = Lilikoi Pineapple, Ube, Ube Chocolate Dipped and Peanut Butter Chocolate Dipped
- Truffle Chips aka Local Crack Snack Attack with soft cuttlefish and mochi crunch.
- Hurricane Mochi Crunch Potato Chips
6. Those all sound so delicious! What's your favorite cookie you make and why?
My favorites are Creamy Peanut Butter Cookie Melts, Truffle Chips and the Lilikoi Pineapple.
For the Creamy peanut butter = I wanted a decadent peanut butter cookie that melts in your mouth.
Lilikoi Pineapple is an amazing little pie when heated and served with coffee, tea, wine or ice cream.
Truffle chips are a great snack to munch on or pupu on with some cold beers.
7. What is your top seller?
Our top sellers are Lilikoi Pineapple Manjookie, Creamy Peanut Butter Cookies, Truffle Chips and Juicy Li-hing gummi bears.
8. What makes your cookies/biz special?
Our business is one of the many few left on Maui that is run and operated by family. I have been running, baking, packing, retailing my products full time by myself with help from my mother, niece and sister in law on the weekend or days that they have off.
10. Anything else you would like to to share?
Yes, Manjookies are delicate and made in small batches. A limited supply is made since we are not commercial. We hand roll and hand pack all our products so this is truly made with love and passion for others to enjoy. Since our product is not saturated in the market, we like this.
"I want people who try our product or share this as a gift with others to feel that they are receiving a gift that was made with quality love and care and not massed produced. We also love supporting our local businesses and respect all the hard work it takes to maintain a restaurant, bakery, food truck in Hawaii." - Jannelle
You don’t have to fly to Maui to munch on Manjookies! Visit us at Rokaru Shabu Shabu, located next to David’s Bridal to stock up on these onolicious, local treats!
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