Fujiya Milky Candy 不二家ミルキー

While I was in Japan, I saw the Fujiya brand everywhere. Not only do they have their own brand of cake shops with the most delicious delights, but they also make every day biscuits, snacks, chocolates and candies.

What I have here is a box of original Fujiya Milky with the iconic image of Peko-chan, the company's mascot, on the front.

Inside there are 7 individually wrapped candies all bearing the Peko-chan mascot. The candies are small, round, and white in colour. There is no distinctive smell from the outside.

The candy is hard, not soft and chewy as I expected. The flavour is quite bland, and I suspect it's aiming to be "milky" which is sweet and creamy.

To be honest, Japanese people probably love these because it reminds them of their childhood. I don't have the nostalgia associated with Fujiya so I don't feel any enthusiasm for this candy. It's too bland.
In saying that though, I'm sure it would be great as a treat for kids, and my Japanese husband loves them.

You can buy this box of Milky Candy from Oyatsu Cafe.

Kabaya Juicy Grape カバヤ ジュー Ｃ グレープ

I was wandering around Nippon Food Supplies and wondering what to get as a small snack that would satisfy when I came up on this pack of Juicy by Kabaya. I love anything grape flavour and it was only 80 cents, so that pretty much sealed the deal for me.

When you open the pack it is basically filled with little round discs, similar in texture to a hard sherbert (like the ramune candy) and it has a very light lilac colour with a K imprinted on to one side and a random cute picture imprinted on the other. I'm guessing the K is for Kabaya. The smell is strong and smells just like grape candy that we all know and love from childhood.

I didn't count at the time but I estimate there to be about 20 tablets in one pack. The candy tablet has a strong taste of grape from the moment I put it into my mouth and it dissolves in the same way as the ramune candy, and it also has a tartness to it like sherbert, which I love.

They dissolve rather quickly, and can also be chewed even quicker. I'm sure kids could chew through a pack of these in ten minutes or less. However, I have to watch how much I consume so I still have about 5 tablets left. The outside is pretty cute too which I'm sure appeals to Kawaii lovers of all generations.

I'm pretty happy with these candies, I love the flavour and the texture and would definitely buy some again.

Brand: Kabaya Calories per box: 94 Website: http://www.kabaya.co.jp/

Meiji Chelsea Hokkaido Milk Scotch Caramels 明治チェルシー北海道ミルクスカッチ

Another Chelsea review! Can't help myself because I found this new flavour at napaJapan and just HAD to try it. You know I love all things Hokkaido, and they're usually pretty good.

This flavour is Hokkaido Milk Scotch and it comes in the same format as always - a small box with a slide out tray of 10 individually wrapped hard caramels. The box is cream and maroon and looks very smart. I was really surprised by the colour of the caramel, I thought it would be a cream colour, but it looks like an average caramel colour.

 

 

The caramel itself doesn't really smell like milk, it smells of a very rich and strong caramel, almost smoky.

At first the caramel is surprisingly sweet and there is a slight coffee flavour which deepens into a rich creamy caramel. There is no coffee listed in the ingredients so the taste is probably just a fluke, but, it really is yummy. It has a really "milky" taste in the caramel which gives it a really creamy flavour that I love. The words that popped into my head while eating this were "cream caramel"...it tastes like a dessert of the same name would.

Yum! I thoroughly recommend these... a candy that is rich and decadent.

Brand: Meiji Calories per box: 188 Website: http://chelsea-agetai.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Meiji Chelsea White Peach Milk Candy 明治チェルシー白桃ミルクキャンディー

I'm a long time fan of Chelsea, and so when I saw this pack of Chelsea White Peach flavour I knew I had to try it.

The box is a very cute pink with the same flower illustrations as always but made for Spring. The box slides out with individually wrapped candies on a tray. The contrast between the black tray and the pink wrapped candies is gorgeous.

Each candy is glossy and smooth and like a dark milk tea colour. The peach flavour is apparent straight away. It's lovely and strong and stays there the whole way until the end. It really tastes the same as a white peach and definitely reminds me of eating the fruit, even down to the way the skin tastes. We both really loved this Chelsea flavour and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again - if I could find some!

Meiji Cheese Kugel 明治チーズクーゲル

 This came in a care package courtesy of napaJapan and the front of the pack says "大人のチーズスナック" - Cheese snack for adults. It also says in English down the bottom "Delicious cheese snack".

The main point of this snack was that it was a different kind of cheese snack that you would expect. The form itself was like a hard candy. The outside reminded me of Mentos, it was white and smooth, but instead of coming in a long roll, it came in a small re-sealable bag.

Each one smelled quite strongly of cheese. They weren't hard to bite into. It was quite surprising to bite into one and find a honeycomb shaped web of golden orange inside. Therein contained most of the flavour.

We ate these over the course of a couple of weeks because the cheese flavour was just so strong and on the nose. These were unique because they weren't the average "snack" that you would expect to be flavoured with cheese, but I won't hunt them down because they were too strong for me. 10/10 for novelty status though!!

Asahi Mitsuya Cider Melon Candy 三ツ矢サイダーキャンディー・メロン味

Whenever I go to Japan, one of the first drink brands I check out is Mitsuya Cider. They always seem to have really interesting and great tasting soda's. The most memorable one I have tried was condensed milk soda which was really nice!

Yubari Melon is a fruit and flavour that is dear to my heart. Hokkaido is my husband's home and is also home to the wonderful Yubari Melon which is used in cakes and desserts, candies, soda's, snacks and so much more in Japan.

So it's no wonder I was excited when napaJapan gave me this bag of Yubari Melon Mitsuya Cider candies.

The bag is small, and (71g) and holds about 20 individually wrapped candies. The candy is small, round and green, a colour that reminds me more of green apple.

From the minute the candy hit my tongue I started to get the fizz sensation that is reminscent of a soda. The Yubari melon flavour is prominent and sweet, but not too sweet. This really tastes like melon soda and there are no harsh chemical flavours that some candies have when trying to recreate a fruit flavour.

I really loved these and handed them out a party to Japanese and Aussie friends who all gave them the thumbs up too!

These are one of the best candies I have tried and I recommend them! You can buy these now at napaJapan as well as other flavours in the range - Grape soda and Regular Cider.

Brand: Asahi Calories per bag: 264 Website: http://www.asahi-fh.com Buy it now at napaJapan

Kabaya Guimauve Strawberry ギモーヴ ストロベリー

Guimauve is the French word for Marshmallow. Marshmallow comes from the plant of the same name and is used in candy and in hot drinks, eaten by itself plain or toasted. As the marshmallow powder is quite difficult to obtain, most manufacturers use gelatin to get marshmallow to that sticky, chewy consistency that we love.

Kabaya have come up with their own take on Guimauve by creating it using Gummi. It is shaped into squares, the French way, and it doesn't have the powdery outside like most marshmallows that come in big bags, instead it has a smooth matte finish.

It smells sweet and floraly, but even without eating it there is a tartness that wafts up my nose. Biting into it is not the same as biting into a marshmallow, it has a little bit more resistance. When it is squeezed, it flumps down in half, unlike a marshmallow that bounces back. The inside after being bitten, resembles something like a marshmallow mixed with a sponge.

The difference with this Guimauve is that the strawberry flavour takes a back seat to the tartness, and it tastes more like a strawberry sherbet than I expected. The flavour is even more pronounced when you suck it instead of chew it.

I'm not a fan of sour candy, I don't hate this, but I don't exactly love it either. It's a little bit hard for me to get my head around this candy. I keep coming back for more but only because it's weird. Who ever heard of a marshmallow made out of gummi? Somehow the texture works. It's just the flavour that is not my thing.

This is not blow-your-head-off super sour, but it has enough there to make you think it's sherbet. I would only buy it if sour candy is your thing.

Brand: Kabaya Calories per pack: 116 Website: http://www.kabaya.co.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Kishiri Crystal Throat Candy Red & Green Plum with Mint キシリクリスタル 赤梅＆青梅ミント

I woke up this morning and found that Winter had finally found Perth. It's been MIA for the last half a month or so, we've had such lovely, hot, summery days.

But now, here comes the rain, and so with it, a sore throat for my dear hubby. I remembered this morning that I had a pack of these in my latest installment from napaJapan, so it's perfect timing really.

I'm not familiar with the company who make these. The Name of it is Kishiri Crystal, and the brand is Teicalo. The word "kishiri" usually means "to squeak", but I think in this case it is from the Japanese word for xylitol - (kishiritoru), because it is where the candy gets its sweetness from instead of sugar. Looking on their website, they seem to only make throat candy.

I'm not a very big fan of Ume (plum), so I was hesitant in trying these, thinking they were maybe going to be really sour or yuck. But, actually I was surprised.

Not really as pretty as the picture is it?

There are 3 layers to this candy. The top layer is red plum, the middle is a smooth white minty paste, and the bottom layer is green plum.

The top layer, the red plum is the most sour of the two, and it really reminds me of cough medicine in that it has a certain cherry flavour about it while still tasting like plum.

The green plum is much sweeter and has hints of green apple.

The mint in the middle really ties this candy together, and it really is refreshing. The one thing I couldn't get out of my head while eating this though is that it reminds me of toothpaste. You know how they make that toothpaste (I think it's Maclean's) with the white stripe of mint down the middle? Well this looks just like that, except it's a throat candy.

I am not sure how beneficial this would be for your throat. Besides herb and peppermint extracts, it doesn't really have any medicinal values. It's not like the Western kind of throat candy that numbs the throat or stops your nose running.

But in all, it's nice for what it is. I probably wouldn't buy it to use when I have a cold, but I find it to be good as a breath freshener, I like it more than chewing gum.

Brand: Teicalo Calories per pack: 70 Website: http://teicalo.com

Calpis Soft Candy Grape Flavour カルピス ソフトキャンディー ぶどう味

I think everyone is pretty familiar with Calpis - a yoghurt flavoured drink that sends all gaijin into fits of uncontrollable giggles when anyone actually says the word, which sounds like "cow piss" to foreign ears.

My friends and I always laughed when Yasu said it and he could never work out why - until I let him in on the joke, and even then he didn't think it was funny. I guess it's just gaijin humour.

Anyway, Calpis have the original yoghurt drink and they also have various takes on the original by mixing it with grape, apple, orange, and various other fruit flavours.

I've had the grape flavour Calpis drink and I quite liked it, so that is why I bought the soft candy in the same flavour. They also had another flavour which was apple & honey, but I thought it seemed too much like something you would have when you're sick with the flu.

The pack has 22.1 calories and 10 pieces inside. That works out to 2.21 calories per piece which is pretty good.

The soft candy resembles a high chew piece except it's a bit wider and flatter. It's a light taro purple on the outside and it has white on the outside. The outside of the pack has a picture and indicates that the purple outside is "budou" (grape), and the inside is plain flavour.

The outside of the candy is in between soft and hard. It's called soft candy, but it's not as soft as it could be. The grape flavour is really strong at first but then the "plain" Calpis flavour in the middle kicks in and starts to overtake the grape flavour. The yoghurt taste is overpowering and the grape ends up taking a backseat to the yoghurt.

I was slightly disappointed by this candy because I thought it was going to be like eating Grape Hubba Bubba, with that total grape experience. I don't mind the original Calpis flavour but why have something called Grape, if it's actually Yoghurt with a hint of grape? Rather confusing.

If you like yoghurt with your grapes then this won't disappoint you. If you are expecting loads of grape flavour then forget it.

Brand: Calpis Calories per pack: 22.1 Website: http://www.candypark.com

Kanro Pure Gummy Sour Plum カンロピュレグミ梅

I've never really been a gummy person, up until recently. I'm more of a jube person. A friend of mine sent me these in a care package and I was abit taken aback. A) because it's "ume" flavour, Japanese sour plum, something I'm not too keen on, and B) the package says "gummy" but it looks more like a jube.

Only one way to find out though. And I'd hesitated enough, so I decided to give them a whirl today. The packet is something I would expect from Japan. Bright pink and compact. Very cute. The gummy (I want to say jube here) is also very cute- light pink and in the shape of a heart.

Ooohhh is that sour. But not as sour as Shigekix, and after a few seconds the sour sugar melts off and leaves me with a flat jube-like candy that is soft enough to chew. The candy underneath still has some sourness but there is also sweetness.


I feel these are closer to what Aussies would call a jube, so I can say I DO like these! They are not as soft and rubbery as gummy I have previously experienced. I really like the texture.

These are quite addictive. The sour punch at the beginning is really good, and then it dies down abit and becomes a regular soft candy. Yum! These might just have turned me into an "ume" liker instead of a hater, too.

I would love to see a grape version of Pure gummy!

Yes, I wholeheartedly recommend these to you. Thorougly enjoyable and addictive. You might need to get a couple of packs at one time... P.S - Yasu didn't get any because I at the WHOLE LOT! :)

Kracie Neruneru Nerune Strawberry Make-at-home candy ねるねるねるね自分で作れるキャンディー苺味

Such is the way of reviewing Japanese snacks is that I don't really adventure out into the totally weird and wacky products unless by force (thanks napaJapan!).

It's not something I would ever buy for myself and I didn't really know this product existed.

Nevertheless, I'm willing to give it a go, just because when I googled it, I found other people had tried it and survived, so it gives me hope it's not too bad. ;)

The name of the candy "neruneru nerune" is quite cute and is the sound of stirring in Japanese, which is quite apt because the candy has three stages, two of which involve stirring.

Inside the packet is a white plastic tray with two pockets, one big circle and a smaller circle. There is a triangle indent on the side which breaks off and is filled with water to stir into the mix in packet 1, which becomes a thick blue glob.


Next in goes packet 2, a small amount of white crystal that instantly turns the mix pink and makes it plump up so that it looks very similar to strawberry mousse. Packet 3 is filled with coloured sprinkles and that goes in the opposite round pocket.


When all the mixing is done, you grab the plastic spoon that was included and take a big scoop of the mousse-like whip candy and dip into the sprinkles then into your mouth.

An interesting concept for kids and my husband, though I wasn't too thrilled about the flavour. It's very much like sherbet, in fact if I didn't know better I would say it is sherbet. There is a slight hint of strawberry flavour but mostly a sour sherbet hit. If you eat it without the sprinkles it will be a full-on sherbet hit. If you dip it in the sprinkles there will be the sherbet hit with a sweetness.

I'm not a fan of sticky, wobbly, gooey textures, but this was ok with me. The sherbet is really good, although not quite the strawberry I was expecting. The idea of this is what sticks the wrong way with me in that it all consists of powder and water, so basically it's just chemicals mixed with water and eaten. Not really something I would want to give to my kids if you know what I mean?

Yasu really enjoyed this, in fact he had nearly the whole thing himself, and I could see that kids would probably really enjoy the mixing and making and dipping in as well. Although the packet states it is "calcium enriched", it's not really something I would give children often because the ratio of calcium to chemical would not be very even would it?

A fun treat, if not so often, I would recommend to you. My sticking point might not be yours, and the taste is quite good if you like sherbet. :)

Wacky Snack of the Week: Going To Hell Drops 地獄の激辛ドロップス

Sakuma Drops have been famous since before WW2 and became iconic in the movie "火垂るの墓" (Grave of the fireflies). They have been popular forever and are now enjoying a new boom time in Japan which means strange new drop flavours are increasing.

This one quite literally meaning "Go To Hell", are drops that are "hell spicy", really great for people who like spicy candy! Spicy candy? If there is such a thing!

Each container has 25 candies inside, each a searing round ball of pain that will be sure to bring tears to your eyes and burn your tongue off. I guess it depends on how hot you love your candy!

I certainly won't be trying these unless I have a big glass of milk handy ;)

Fujiya Milky Banana and Melon Flavours 不二家ミルキーバナナ味とメロン味

Fujiya is a sweets company that is well known for its female character Peko-chan and the male counterpart Poko-chan.

Unfortunately they have gained notoriety over the past couple of years because they used ingredients past the use-by date, or mislabelled ingredients and expiry dates on products they manufactured. As a result some Fujiya outlets closed their stores temporarily and just this week I've heard another case where the branch in Osaka did not put expiry dates on the products properly.

As a result of this Fujiya lost a lot of long-time customers; but because they did make a recovery onto the scene again seemed to be regaining ground they had lost.

In any case, Yasu and I have always been fans of Fujiya. In my case I have quite a few Peko-chan dolls and rare memorabilia, and one of Yasu's friends has a sister that works for a Fujiya outlet in Tokachi which we like to visit.

We have always been a fan of milky too. So that is why I picked up these two bags in Hokkaido, the Melon flavour especially resonating with me. These were bought at Seria for 105 yen each, around $1 and they both contain 14 individually wrapped candies each.

On the Fujiya website they have a few different flavours; original, salty balls, black sugar, caramel, strawberry milk, and even throat lozenges.

The new website expressly for Milky they have information about all the new snacks, flavours passed, horoscopes, information on how the candy is made, and you can join to get access to special features. It's worth taking a look, it's really pretty!

The candy is the usual size and shape, but each candy is half the normal colour and half the flavoured colour. Banana is white and yellow and Melon is white and green.


Banana


Has a very "banana milkshake" smell to it. The banana flavour is quite light, not overpowering at all. It's also quite sweet, more sweet than banana taste in there though. Very soft and easy to chew, but I'm disappointed in the strength of the banana flavour in there. The bag says there is 2% banana essence, I guess that is why. It would have been better with 10% perhaps. This candy leaves a sweet taste at the back of my mouth that makes me really thirsty.


Melon


The candy doesn't really smell like anything. The melon flavour is really strong on these and it's very similar to the real thing. There is a hard part in the middle of the candy that I didn't experience with the Banana. There is alot of creaminess in here towards the middle, a "milky" flavour really comes out and it's not unlike a less sweet condensed milk flavour. I really liked this but for the hard middle.

The Melon flavour is definitely my favourite. I love that burst of creaminess in the centre. Shame about the hard part, if only the texture of the banana and the flavour of the melon could be combined, it would be a real winner.

I would buy these again because they're cheap, they're abit "natsukashii", and they're good for sharing. They also have lots of different flavours coming out regularly so it's fun to try them every now and then to see what's on offer. I know kids love these too!

Kabaya Karipori Watermelon & Lemon Soda カバヤすいカリポリすいかソーダとレモンソーダ味

When I bought this, I was under the impression that it was something akin to Pocky, as in a pretzel stick with chocolate and the flavours were watermelon and lemon. How wrong was I.

It's actually stick candy with those flavours but no chocolate, just candy. Still, I'm challenging myself with this menu so here goes.

I was surprised to find that there were 6 individual packets inside, 3 each of watermelon soda and lemon soda. Each pack has 2 sticks inside.


Each stick is about 10cm long and half a centimetre in diameter. The sticks have a glossy finish.

The watermelon flavoured candy stick is pink with black dots throughout. The lemon one also has a few pips included and this is because it's a kind of watermelon theme. Both packets look like watermelon, they both have the pips, but the lemon one is yellow. There is a play on words going on as this is called "sui-karipori" and a watermelon is "suika".

Both sticks smell similar to their fruity counterparts. When broken in half the sticks deliver a loud crunch noise, hence the name, "karipori".


At first the candy feels like sucking on plastic, but then I get a sense of "fizziness". The candy dissolves in my mouth but I much more prefer crunching on it which enhances the fizz.

The watermelon flavour is pretty good, but with all the fizz ends up having a weird chemical taste at the end. The lemon really tastes like sour lemons, down to the sour part, and I found the fizz was less intense, and the flavour was sweeter at the end.

I like the lemon flavour more because I hate candy that tastes weird like chemicals.
It's not something I would usually buy, and I probably wouldn't buy it again, but only because this sort of thing is not my cup of tea. I like the idea and I'm sure kids would love this. If I had kids I would probably buy it for them.

Lotte Drink Mix Candy いろいろたのしいドリンクミックス

This bag of candy was another gift from my generous sister in law in Japan. The packet is meant to look like a vending machine.

All the drinks in this bag you can actually buy from vending machines, but also supermarkets and convenience stores. They are what one would refer to as "for your health", or what I think Japanese people think are for their health but are not actual health drinks bar one.

They are all citrus in flavour, but apart from that they probably have loads of sugar, so not actually a 'real' health drink if you know what I mean!

There are 5 drinks and 5 individually wrapped candies for each flavour, making 25 candies in the bag.



Dakara

This has the refreshing taste of white grapefruit, just like the drink that I love so much! I really enjoyed this candy, it only had a hint of sweetness, more sourness, which I liked because it didn't make me thirsty.

C.C. Lemon

An oldie but a goodie, a big hitter in the popularity stakes, kind of a staple like Vegemite to Australia. This has a fizzy texture and a tart lemon flavour. The texture of the candy is quite hard and has a lot of lines in the candy itself, abit hard on my tongue, but the flavour is consistent with the real life drink. I liked this but my tongue didn't.



Natchan! Orange

My husband loves this drink, it's his absolute favourite. I'm not sure if it's because of the cute image on the packaging or the taste itself, but I have to admit, I like it too. Natchan! kind of reminds me of the from concentrate orange juice drinks we get here that are diluted with water. It's not 'real' freshly squeezed juice, but it has that smooth flavour that kids love. The candy was exactly the same in flavour and texture as the drink, the candy is quite smooth in texture, the taste is very orangey.

Bikkle

A stalwart of the yoghurt type drinks in Japan, this is along the same lines as Yakult pro-biotic drink. You can taste the custard like notes in this first off, and the the tang of the yoghurt. Very true to the real life drink, I really enjoyed this candy because it offered something different. It was smooth and tangy but with a real dairy feel.

Dekavita

This comes in a brown bottle in Japan - this is how Japanese manufacturers know they are not messing around, this is the real deal mate. Or something like that. Well, it looks more professional for a 'health drink' than coming in a pet bottle! I've never actually had the real drink and judging from the candy, I'm not sure if I want to! It's quite fizzy, sour, and with no real sweetness at all. It's like sucking on a sour lemon candy. The texture of the candy is quite rough too so it ripped up my tongue when I sucked on it too hard. No smiles here.

These are all real winners for me except Dekavita. Though if you like your candy sour, then I'm sure you would like it.