There’s nothing bigger in food trends than the dessert hybrid—creations like the cronut (croissant meets doughnut) and the cruffin (croissant-muffin) that may have seemed like a hipster fad initially, but they’ve managed to become mainstream —and the latest combo to meet and mix is the mochi donuts new cronuts.

It doesn’t have a catchy name like the other trendy desserts, but it does have a unique stretchy, chewy texture inside a thin, crisp bite that sets it apart from its sweet competitors.

Demochi is what Dennis Chan originally had in mind when he opened his fried-chicken food truck Dirty Bird in Sydney, but perfecting the recipe proved difficult.

“I was hoping the doughnuts would come before Dirty Bird,” he told Broadsheet.

“But it took so long to get the recipe right that at one point it felt impossible, so I put it on the backburner.”

The Japanese dough is made from mochigome, a type of glutinous rice flour that is made into a paste and then shaped.

Traditionally, mochi is baked or boiled, but Mr Chan discovered a deep-fried version while travelling in Japan with his wife, Monique, five years ago, and Demochi was born.

Testing recipes in the time he had spare between Dirty Bird and his job as a pharmacist, Mr Chan said it took a long time to get it right.

“The biggest challenge was trying to get the mochi donuts new cronuts ratio right. You don’t want it so chewy it’s like bubblegum,” he said.

“You want there to be distinction between a doughnut and the slight chew you get from a mochi.”

Since opening in June as a standalone marquee next to Dirty Bird, Demochi has been popping up at festivals and markets and proving to be a crowd pleaser with flavours like Sakura Strawberry glaze with choc bits and honey powderpuff, and Royal Milk Tea glaze with sesame.

“It’s a mix of American and Japanese flavours to represent the fusion of the two cultures,” Mr Chan said.