In a previous life, Kaya’s Store in Hauula dealt in hardware. Also animal feed and groceries. “He had lumber, he had pipes,” Beverly Hashimoto said of her late father, William Hideo Kaya, who founded the store in 1946. “He used to sell lawnmowers, repair lawnmowers. He sold cement. He even taught me to cut glass.”

These days the shop is smaller, with more modest ambitions. Hashimoto says most customers come in for grocery and sundry items. The store also is well-positioned for passing North Shore traffic, and draws both locals and visitors seeking drinks and snacks to fuel a day of touring or hanging out at the beach.

Kaya’s still has the friendly feel of a country store, though, with Hashimoto there nearly every day and a chatty Ethel Kahia (“call me ‘aunty’”) at the cash register.

Hashimoto, a former fashion designer for Alfred Shaheen in Los Angeles, came home with her husband, Vern, in 1994, and eventually they took over the store.

They serve takeout breakfast (loco moco, mahi and eggs, for example) and lunch (garlic chicken, hamburger steak and more) from a Kaya’s Kitchen window inside. Grab-and-go items include Spam musubi, makizushi rolls and — best of all — butter mochi.

That last item, Hashimoto said, is made twice a day, two pans at a time. It’s a just-right mochi, perfectly smooshy and lightly buttery.

Hashimoto said it took many tries to perfect the recipe. “Over the years we tweaked it here and there.”

Sometimes she’ll make a batch with chocolate chips, but says it doesn’t sell as well so usually she’ll just add the chips to half a pan. Those instructions follow the recipe. I tried it; it works.

Aunty Bev’s Butter Mochi

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 medium or 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 (16-ounce) box mochiko
• 2 (13.5-ounce) cans coconut milk

Heat convection oven to 325 degrees (preferred) or conventional oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Use metal whisk to mix until mostly smooth (a few lumps are OK). Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 minutes (convection) or 60 minutes (conventional), or until top is golden.

At Kaya’s the mochi is cut into 16 pieces while still hot and each piece is wrapped in plastic wrap.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Note: To make chocolate chip mochi, after pouring batter into pan drizzle with chocolate sauce and sprinkle with semisweet chocolate chips; bake as directed. For variety, put the chocolate on just half the pan.

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