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 ;)

Country Ma'am Okinawa Black Sugar カントリーマアム沖縄黒みつ

This is another random selection from Seria, and the last of the food souvenirs I brought back from Japan. Phew!

As with the other Country Ma'am cookies I brought back, these were 100 yen or $1. Despite the size of the bag they only have 5 individually wrapped cookies.



I really like black sugar from Okinawa so I had high expectations of these.

The cookie is much smaller than I expected, kind of a bit shrivelled up if you ask me. It's quite dark brown, and crumbly.



The smell from the bag is quite strong, you can tell what it is without even looking at the label, it smells exactly like black sugar. I actually think these are abit less than the standard size, but the flavour more than makes up for this.

The flavour packs a punch. Wham. Bam! It's right there in your face, very strong black sugar. The chocolate chips in these (2 of them) are a nice sideshow to the black sugar and it gives it an injection of sweetness that is lacking with the strength of the sugar.

I quite like these and they go really well with a cup of Japanese tea. It's a really "Japan" kind of flavour, something that I always like, so if you like that of 和味 (note this is not a word, but my own creation "wa aji", signifying a really Japanese flavour) then you will definitely like these!!

I would buy these again, but chances are I won't have the opportunity to as I'm sure they have already come out with new flavours. :)

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.

Wacky Snack of The Week - Tirol Chocolate Cheetos

Introducing a new section of my blog : Wacky Snack of The Week.

This weeks snack is Tirol x Cheetos Coffee Nougat.

Yes, that is right. Cheetos Coffee Nougat Flavour. Cheetos covered in coffee flavoured chocolate nougat. What a bizarre idea!

Image borrowed from Fritolay Japan

Fritolay describe this as melt-in-your-mouth coffee nougat Tirol poured over Cheesy Cheetos.

I have just ordered a bag from NapaJapan and look forward to trying it soon!! I've never thought of cheese and chocolate going together, but when I think about it, coffee is served with cheese, so why not chocolate and cheese?

Glico Heart Caramels グリコ心形のキャラメル

"The running man" is an icon well known to Glico. Their catch-cry is that one caramel will allow you to run 300 metres. Though everyone knows that it doesn't really work, it's just a sales pitch. Which begs the question, if everyone knows, why do they continue to have it written on the box?

Anyway, I've seen these around but never tried them. What really coaxed me into buying them was the free toy that was attached. At 31 I'm still a sucker for a free toy, however lame it may seem!


There was a choice between the bread maker toy, dinosaur robots, or insects. Being a girl, I chose the bread-maker, you know, to tie in with that long-held belief of men that women belong in the kitchen. Hmm.

I was right to say "lame" toy, because it is. I must have drawn the shortest straw possible because what I got was a plastic jar with a spoon. I opened the lid of the jar in expectation that I was getting something inside, but alas, only air in there. A look at the box shows me I could have got a set of scales, a bread bin, or a serving tray with tongs. Damn. Thought I was getting the cute scales. Oh well. Who wants a free jar and spoon toy?

The box of caramels only have 5 caramels in them. Supposing that you could run 300 metres with every bite, you could expect to run 1500 metres with the whole box. But you would need another box to get back. Would the 154 calories consumed by eating these be burned off in the process I wonder? Anybody tried this?


Moving along to the caramels, they are shaped like a heart. Not sure if this has anything to do with health - aka healthy hearts through running, or Glico is expressing their love for us buying their products.

The caramel really tastes like coconut and is chewy. Looking at it I thought it would be hard. In the centre there is a taste like lemon peel, powdered milk and caramel. To me, it tastes weird. The ingredients list claims alot of B vitamins, Calcium, and Sweeteners. The sweeteners I can agree on because it's so throat burningly sweet while I'm chewing it my throat feels like it's on fire.

I bet the sweetener alone could power you 300 metres. And guess what, I got a headache right after eating this too.

I guess, because it's been around for so long, Glico's heart caramels are a hit. But not with me. Certainly, Yasu's eye's started sparkling when I showed him the box. Not sure if that's out of childhood sentimentality or he just loves snacks.

I bought these for $1.38 and even with the lame toy included it wasn't worth it. I won't be buying these again. (The yucky coconut and lemon peel taste is still in my mouth!)

Puccho Shio Lemon with Gummi ぷっちょしおレモン

Puccho is a brand I've seen out and about which reminds me of Hi-chew. It's definitely targeted towards children which is an area that in the past I've stayed away from when it comes to Japanese candy.

A new year is almost here and because of that (and that I'm reaching 100 posts), I've decided to push myself and try a few different things, one of them being Puccho.

There were a variety of flavours on offer when I bought these, but this one seemed the weirdest and less appealing flavour. Salty lemon. Hmm not unless I'm drinking tequila?


The packet is considerably summery, and looking on their website I can't find a mention so I would say this has been and gone in regards to where the Japanese market is now. However, it's summer in Perth, so good timing for me. (And I might add the best before date is February 2010, so still within the good tasting zone.)

The difference between this and Hi-chew is that this has little bits of round gummy pieces inside, plus because of the salty lemon flavour, bits of salt, would you believe.

Each pack has 10 pieces and the packet opens via a string, similar to chewing gum packs.


The piece itself feels like plastic and is white with a light yellow colour on each end, again very similar to Hi-Chew.


Biting into it there is this taste just like lemon butter, or lemon curd, it's so sour at the back of my throat! The gummy in the middle is chewy but a bit hard and it's really salty like swallowing water at the beach. Ugh.

The problem with this candy is that the yoghurt part is kind of tough like old leather and not very much like yoghurt in flavour, the gummy are lumpy and hard to chew and the salt is overwhelming like someone rolled a lemon in salt and threw it in the ocean. Eww...

I'm not a fan...these two flavours just don't go together. Sour and salt. Only with alcohol I think. I also don't like the texture, tough on the outside, hard and chewy on the inside, and stuck between my back teeth.

Did I sabotage myself by getting a flavour I thought was weird? I didn't think so at the time because I am a fan of salt and vanilla together so I thought this might be the same. I had expectations of liking this one.

$2.39 down the drain. I wonder if kids would like this? And who can I fob this onto? Anyone want a pack of Puccho with 7 pieces left? I'm serious guys.

Kameda Seika Age Ichiban Senbei 亀田製菓揚げ一番せんべい

I've been looking around for some senbei (rice crackers) in the Japanese supermarkets around me, but mostly the flavours are all the same. Either soy sauce, plain salt, seaweed, or sesame. Absolutely no prawn flavour, or other interesting flavours, only the usual fare.

So when I went into Maruyu yesterday and discovered Age Ichiban I had to buy some! Kameda Seika make my favourite senbei of all time - Kotsubukko. Age Ichiban is very similar to Kotsubukko in that the texture and idea is the same, it's still Age (fried), but they are small round balls of fried soy sauce goodness. Age Ichiban is fried soy sauce goodness in a larger size (6cm diameter) and individually wrapped in the packet.


I paid $3.99 for this pack of 155 grams. There are 25 individually wrapped senbei total. Not bad.

I love these because when you open the wrapping you can smell the soy sauce immediately and it also has a lovely sweet smell that goes along with it, sort of like the sweetness in Teriyaki.

The senbei is quite hard and there is a loud crunch when you bite into it, and I wouldn't recommend these for people with sensitive or weak teeth. But anyway, if you love a good crunch these are great.


The flavour is really present without being overwhelming. Despite being deep fried they are not too oily. It's kind of hard for me to explain the flavour other than that its really soy sauce in the beginning then becomes quite sweet soy sauce at the end.

Just like kotsubukko I can't stop eating these, and one is not enough. I've already eaten four during this review. Stop Kelly stop!!

Thankfully, Yasu doesn't like these so I have the whole pack to myself. Good times. :) I guess you know the answer, YES I would definitely buy this again.

Choco Dutsumi Chocolate 新食感チョコレートちょこづつみ

These were the look of souvenirs brought back from Japan this time around. I decided on food as I had already been there before and brought home the obligatory fans and trinkets, which I know most people like to get but never actually use. Food, and certainly chocolate flavoured food, is always going to go down well, even if it looks strange.

The box lends itself to souvenirs too because it has a traditional Japanese pattern on one half of the box with pretty Japanese writing.

Choco Dutsumi looks traditional while still having flavours we can recognize. It's actually soft balls of mochi (sweet rice) with chocolate ganache in the centre.

There are two separately wrapped packets of four balls each inside the packet. It's easy enough to slide one out and open it, and the flavour is such that one small packet is more than enough for one person.



The mochi is dark brown and has cocoa powder inside. It's soft on the outside and has a similar texture to a peach, hence the 新食感 on the label (new texture). There is a big ball of chocolate ganache on the inside, which has alot more flavour than the outside and is thick and creamy.

You can bite it in half or put the whole ball in your mouth and chew. It really doesn't matter. Either way you get to experience the soft chewy rice and the thick creamy ganache.


These have cocoa butter, cocoa powder and raw cream in them and you can tell because the quality is really good. I bought these at Don.Kihote for 168 yen per box, about $1.70. Not bad value considering they are shareable.

These don't come with picks for eating, I just used a toothpick, though I'm sure most of my Aussie friends would have picked them up with their fingers, it just means it's a bit sticky.

I would definitely buy these again and may even bring them back as souvenirs again if I can find a different flavour.

Country Ma'am Hokkaido Kinako Cookies 北海道きなこ

Kinako is only just a recent discovery for my tastebuds, but it's one I surprisingly enjoy. Kinako is soybean flour which is made by toasting soybeans and grinding them into flour.

I picked up this bag in Seria for 100 yen or around $1. It contains 5 individually wrapped cookies, each about 3.5cm in diameter.


They are a golden brown colour, mainly due to the fact that theire is caramel colour included in the ingredients.

Breaking the cookie in half it is crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. There are noticeable white chocolate chips in the middle, I had four chips in mine.

The flavour is unlike other kinako I have tasted. The first taste offers up a slightly burnt flavour, not unlike burnt caramel. Its only at the very end that I get to the slight peanut like flavour that kinako often has. The white chocolate chips don't really add alot to this cookie, mainly because the burnt caramel flavour is the major player here and the white chocolate are mere bits that only provide a burst of flavour if I bite directly on it. It doesn't enhance the flavour though, just detracts from the main theme.


I would have preferred this without the white chocolate chips. They weren't really sweet but they just took away from it flavour wise. If the chips weren't there I could have concentrated more on the actual flavour of the kinako.

I've never tasted Hokkaido kinako before, so I wasn't sure if it was true to the flavour, but asking Yasu who is from Hokkaido, he said it's very much Hokkaido kinako, so obviously it's just me who really prefers the regular non-Hokkaido kinako.

These were ok, but I wouldn't buy them again. Yasu said they were just okay, which doesn't inspire much confidence in me. They're ok for a buck, and the good thing is if you don't like them they're individually wrapped so you can give them away to unassuming people. :)