Okay, so the crepe and the choux creme (cream puff) are probably here to stay, but after nearly a year of duking it out in the snack trend arena, the Moffle (モッフル) is still kicking strong.

So, what exactly is it? It’s basically a couple of slices of hard mochi cake sandwiched in a glorified, proprietary waffle maker. Of course, plain mochi tastes pretty bland, but the whole point of the Moffle (or the moffuru) is that you can sandwich literally anything inside of the mochi slices ala panini/pressed sandwich style. While it may seem like it’s just a case of subbing one carb for another, most of you know that mochi becomes a remarkable duality of textures when it is grilled: crispy and gooey.

Much like the crepe, it’s general blandness makes it possible to build and showcase various flavors, whether it be sweet or savory, dessert-like or meal-like. Moreover, it does a better job at blending with Japanese ingredients than egg-and-flour batters do. Toasted kinako and kuromitsu on a pancake? Uh, no thanks…

Here’s the cute, mod-inspired magic maker in action:

Did oka-san just make tuna and shrimp katsu sandwiches out of mochi? Yep, what of it? This is like one of those novelty appliances that just keeps giving, but if you’re not sure you want to give back ￥6800 - ￥12,777 (about $70-130 USD) to Amazon.com, just use a normal waffle iron. Other than their grill indentation shapes, the Moffle and the generic waffle maker are the same thing. Check out this tutorial if you want to know where to start with a waffle maker.