Kameda Seika Curry Senbei 亀田製菓カレーせん

I've had such a big craving for senbei (a type of Japanese rice cracker) lately, but the only options in the Japanese supermarkets here seem to be either soy sauce or salt flavour. I'm not really into either of those flavours to be honest.

So I asked the help of a friend in Japan to send me some senbei over and she kindly obliged. She sent me a few different types, the bite size senbei that my son loves, these Curry Sen and some fancier Ebi Senbei which I hope to blog about soon.

These curry senbei are those which you might call "soft". They are big and round and when you bite into them they melt in the mouth. Hubby and I were really happy with these and ate the packet over two sittings but could have quite happily ate it in one if we wanted to be piggies!

So soft they broke up in transit.

The curry sen were coated back and front with lots of curry spice and on the packet it claims the flavour leans more towards Indian spices which I can attest to as at the end of each bite my tongue warmed up with the heat of the spices.

As you can probably tell we really loved these and were sad when our senbei love affair was over. I'd definitely recommend these if you want something a bit different from the usual rice cracker.

Each pack has 18 crackers and the company's website is here.

Imuraya Azuki Bar 井村屋あずきバー

  

It's quite warm tonight so for dessert I'm having this Azuki Bar by a company called Imuraya.

I picked it up at the Japanese supermarket for 99 cents on sale.

I thought it was going to be an icecream bar containing Azuki (read bean) but its not. Basically it's Azuki purée and bits of beans stuck on a pop stick. It does taste yum and very authentic, but I'm not so sure about the texture as red bean blended has a strange texture and then there are lumps of beans poking out too.

It's a different dessert and one I'm sure an Azuki lover would quite enjoy, but for me I can't get past the odd texture and it made me really thirsty too.

I probably wouldn't buy it again but I'm happy to have at least tried it. For the record I do really like Azuki, I'm just not so in love with this bar.

Kimura Annin Ramune 木村 杏仁ラムネ

I've had this bottle of Ramune sitting in my fridge for a while. I bought it on a whim. Annin is almond flavour. I've tried Annin Kit Kat before and so I thought Ramune would be good.

In Japan the most popular use of Annin is in Annin Dofu, a kind of almond pudding, borrowed from China I think.

I've noticed this brand of Ramune don't use the traditional glass bottles but a plastic version which is easier to release the small ball in the centre.

At first the soda just tastes like lemonade, flat lemonade at that, as there is not very much fizz at all. Then after swallowing there is a big hit of almond flavour at the back of my throat, and mixed with the lemonade flavour becomes a taste of childhood nightmares aka kids medicine.

Hubby had one sip of this and told me I could have his bottle as well, because no way is he drinking something that tastes like medicine. He said that the cold and flu medicine in Japan tastes the same.

Oh well. I'm not a fan of this Ramune, but I guess I'll end up drinking it. It's a shame they couldn't pull it off, at least the bottle cover is cute, I think that is the only thing going for it!

Teaming Up With Rattling Reviews

Thought I better mention that this blog has already gone live in a monthly publication called Rattling Reviews.

From now on I will be doing two reviews for Rattling Reviews every month and endevouring to branch out into reviewing homewares and other fun Japanese products as well.

This is the cover of the latest issue which you can subscribe to free from the website.

My review in Rattling Reviews

You can also find them on Facebook here.

I'm so excited to have been given this opportunity! I love blogging online but also in a Newzine is just so fantastic, I love being able to spread the word about unique Japanese products. :)

Echigo Seika Bite Size Prawn Crackers 越後製菓 味の追求 ひとくち 海老せん

 

I am a big fan of prawn crackers and usually when we have Chinese Take-away I get a big bag of them.

Ebi Senbei are a lot like prawn crackers except they are usually round, thicker and harder. I got a friend to send some senbei (Japanese rice cracker) over for me and in the box she included this pack of bite size ebi senbei with my 11 month old son in mind.

I wasn't sure if he would like them but they were a massive hit and quickly became "his" senbei, in fact he ate the whole pack by himself except for one or two that we sneaked so we could try.

I know why they were so popular, they are the perfect size for his little hands, they have lots of flavour, and a satisfying crunch.

These are adults senbei, not marketed towards children but they seem perfect for the whole family.

The packet contains 60g worth of senbei which is probably around 30 pieces and a packet contains 474 calories.

I'm definitely going to buy more of these, they are just so worth it!!

The manufacturers website is
http://www.echigoseika.co.jp

Meidi-ya My Syrup Blue Ramune めいじや マイシロップ ブルー ラムネ風味

It's getting quite hot in Australia now as we are well and truly into summer. Today was 36 degrees and the perfect day for Kakigori (かき氷).

So I decided to open a new bottle of syrup. It's by a company called Meidi-ya and the flavour is Blue "Ramune" which is a basic soda or "lemonade" in Japan.

The syrup is bright blue and smells sweet. It's quite thin but is full of flavour. It tastes really sweet and like lemonade without the bubbles. I had condensed milk over the top and it was a match made in heaven.

I would fully recommend this, it's so yummy. I'll be having this again soon I think!

iPhone blogging

As a busy mum to a very active 9 month old I no longer have time to spend hours in front of the computer posting reviews, so from now on I will be posting shorter reviews from my iPhone (thanks to the blogger app!) as I still love reviewing, and don't want to give it up.

The reviews will be shorter but more to the point, I hope that my readers will continue the journey with me :)

Wishing you all a very happy new year!

Kabaya Juicy Cider カバヤ ジュー Ｃ サイダー味

I picked up this tube of Juicy thinking it was Ramune flavour, because usually Ramune candy is this same blue colour, but when I got home I realised it's Cider. Never mind, because I like cider anyway.

When I opened the lid it smelled very similar to ramune anyway...very much like lemonade. Usually "cider" means apple, because it comes from "apple cider", but this doesn't smell like apple.

Each tablet is white and has blue and green specks. At first the taste is like soda water with a hint of lemonade, and then it gets sweet. The specks in the tablet are crunchy but don't seem to have much taste. There is a very vague apple flavour, like I'm almost imagining it to be there. The tablet has a slight fizzy effect but I can't work out if it's from the specks or the tablet itself.

These are kind of weird...they don't really taste like cider. More like a distant relative of cider. I think the person who made this was really thinking of Ramune at the time. I can't really say I'm a fan. They leave a funny aftertaste in my mouth too...

Glico Bisco Matcha Milk グリコ ビスコ 抹茶ミルク

Bisco is a brand that has been around since 1933, they're made by Glico, maker of Pocky and other much loved snack brands.

The packaging of Bisco always contains a child, because these biscuits are primarly for children. This is the latest flavour of Bisco - Matcha Milk or green tea and milk.

 

 

From the Bisco website, listing the new flavours, strawberry and match milk

Each biscuit is 3.5 cm long and 2 cm wide. It has a layer of green matcha milk cream sandwiched in the middle. The smell of the cream is very strong and very much like matcha. The biscuit is very soft and crunchy and the cream is soft and sweet. The biscuit and cream are a match(a) made in heaven because the matcha is very pronounced and you really get a strong flavour coming through in each chew.

The size of these biscuits means they are great for little hands, but also great for diet control. Each pack contains 5 of these biscuits, and the pack itself is small enough to fit in a lunch box or a zippered part of a backpack or handbag.

I recommend these if you want a small snack or your kiddlywinks like green tea, they're very enjoyable.

Tirol Matcha Soy Latte チロル 抹茶ソイらて

Wow, who would have thought to combine Matcha and Soy? I certainly wouldn't have...though I think maybe dairy intolerant people in Japan must already do this.

The colour of this chocolate is absolutely beautiful. It's beautifully layered, just like the Tiramisu Tirol. When I put this chocolate up to my nose, all I could smell was white chocolate, so I wasn't too excited to be honest...thinking it may be a bit of a dud.

But, biting into it there is a wonderful, strong matcha flavour that just gets better and better. There's a jelly layer in the centre that adds bitterness, and the soy cream in the middle adds another dimension. Yum! I have been disappointed with other matcha chocolate in the past when it hasn't had much flavour but this Tirol is just so full of flavour and it's so yum!

I just feel like shouting yum yum Tirol!! yum yum Green Tea!

Snack love also reviewed this flavour, and you can buy it at NapaJapan.