Tampa snack shop sells one of Asia's most popular street foods

TAMPA, Fla. - Juju Taiyaki is a Tampa snack shop that sells one of Asia’s most popular street food items. 

Taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped cake with sweet filling inside. Red bean paste is the tradition filling.

Carmi Sutliff came up with the idea to start the business during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was hoping to take a trip back home to her native Philippines and also visit Japan while in Asia, but both countries were essentially locked down. 

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"I was craving street food. I had to find a way," she laughed. 

So, she started making her favorite treats right here in the Tampa Bay area. 

She offers the traditional red bean flavor, but also created a Filipino inspired ube flavor. Ube is from a purple yam. 

Sutliff also makes Nutella, vanilla custard, guava cheese, Oreo and smores flavored taiyaki.

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You can find Juju Taiyaki in the Bakery Box Pop-up located at 5226 South Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa every Monday. Sutliff also attends a lot of area markets, so be sure to follow here on Instagram to find the times and locations of those.