Lotte Ume Gum ロッテ 梅ガム

I don't chew gum very often. Usually only when I feel a bit sick. I chewed it a lot during pregnancy to help with morning sickness. Today when I was at the Japanese Supermarket (Nippon Foods) this gum was on sale.

I'm not really a big fan of Japanese plum, because usually it's sour and burns my tongue. But this gum is not "umeboshi" (pickled plum), it's just plum, so I figured it might taste ok. It was on sale for $1 per pack so I figured if it was gross, it wasn't going to leave a big hole in my pocket.

The pack itself is quite pretty, which I think drew me in somewhat because of the cute plum blossoms. On the side of the pack it states "梅の味とシソの香り" which means it has the flavour of plum and the aroma of shiso leaves.

Each gum piece is long and flat and individually packaged in silver foil and then an outer pink paper wrapper with plum blossoms on one side and the Lotte Ume Gum logo on the other. There are 9 pieces per pack.

Upon opening the piece of gum there is a vaguely sweet smell that reminds me of cherry. The gum is sweet to taste and at first has a very strong taste of plum but there are also hints of something else that reminds me of cherry or cherry blossoms. For the first minute of chewing the flavour is quite strong, and it's really quite pleasant. As stated on the box there is a shiso aroma that comes out while chewing the gum, I'm not a fan of shiso, but this is ok as it's not too strong and is only temporary.

As with most gums, the longer you chew this gum the weaker the flavour gets. After 2 minutes or so the flavour is quite weak and it stayed that way until 5 minutes when I discarded it.

I found that 5 minutes was the maximum for me because around then was when I started to feel really thirsty. In any case they did the trick and the hit of sugar combined with a bit of chewing made me start to feel better.

If you want a long-lasting gum then this is not the right choice. However it is an interesting flavour to try and would definitely satisfy a sweet craving. It's good value just for trying something out of the box. :)

Kinako Senbei 岩塚製菓 きなこ餅 "にほんの味”

I am a huge fan of Kinako, it's one of my all-time favourite Japanese flavours besides Azuki and Matcha. So when I found this pack of Kinako Senbei in a box of goodies from a friend in Japan, I was ecstatic.

This pack has 12 individually wrapped senbei. They are thin and light and as you can see on the photo have a patchy sampling of kinako. The pack states that this is more a "savoury" style of kinako as opposed to a really sweet version. I was a little bit disappointed at reading that.

However when I first bit into the senbei it wasn't bad at all. True to what the package says, it wasn't that sweet, but it definitely tasted like kinako, and I quite like the "savoury" version. It's also really crunchy and light, and there is a strong nutty flavour that I really like.

The only downer with this senbei is there is only 1 small senbei wrapped by itself, I could eat more at a time, I wish there were about 4 in one wrap. Maybe because they're so addictive, they limit the quantity to 1 individual serving, people could go crazy and eat the whole pack in one sitting otherwise!

I really recommend these if you like kinako. I still have half the pack left because I'm trying to save them...I'm so kinako deprived over here in Perth, Australia, that I have to really savour anything with kinako that I can get my hands on!

Befco Baka-Uke Shio Wasabi Snack ばかうけ 塩わさび味

Today Yasu and I were in the mood for a snack, and we remembered about the box of goodies that my lovely friend S had sent over so I opened it up and Yasu chose this pack of Bakauke by Befco. Shio Wasabi - Salty Wasabi.

Hmm... I'm not into "hot" or "spicy" foods but I thought I would be game and try.

Each cracker is long and curved, and has the consistency of a "soft" senbei.

When I bit into the cracker I immediately got a big hit of wasabi on the tip of my tongue and after swallowing, at the back of my throat, and the more I ate, the more it built up. Yasu really enjoyed these and I loved that they had such a crunchy texture.

I didn't notice any extra salt as per the "salty" wasabi tag, but maybe because my mouth was on fire. Though I did notice a sweetness from the inside of the cracker between bites.

The wasabi was a bit too strong for me but people who can take the heat would love these. :)