Kasugai Yuzu Gummy Candy

I recently saw a picture of a Japanese granny in her bathtub on Facebook. No, I wasn't "liking" the Japanese old lady porn page. The truth is that, while I'm pretty sure such a page exists, I'm very, very frightened of doing a search to verify that possibility. The picture was there because she'd bonded with a cat, probably a stray cat, and they supposedly are now inseparable. I guess that's why the cat was watching her take a bath. It doesn't explain why someone with a camera was there watching her take one, too, but then we're right back to the Japanese granny porn.

You might wonder what this topic has to do with yuzu. That puzzlement would certainly be understandable, but that's only because I'm slow in getting to the point. The old lady in her tub was nearly surrounded by floating citrus fruit. That obscured her old-lady parts and made the picture far less terrifying than it might have otherwise been. (Note: I have nothing against old lady parts. In fact, at 49, I'm close to having those myelf. I just don't really want to look at them. If you do, then more power to you so long as you're indulging with a consenting granny.)

That picture reminded me of the fact that many Japanese folks like to put yuzu in their baths and that it was more common at one point to bath with it than to eat it. That was before it became a trending flavor (in the past five or so years) and got pleasantly rolled into so many sweets. As a tart citrus fruit, that is where yuzu can truly shine, though it also works in a number of savory implementations.

The candy smells a little lemony and a little floral. The flavor bursts onto your tongue the moment you start chewing. It releases a sweet flavor which has hints of lemon, but is closer in total flavor to an orange. There is a whisper of grapefruit at the end that reveals itself in a tiny, bitter end note.

The texture is on the softer side and they are easy to chew. They're pleasant in this way, and much nicer than some of the tougher gummy candies I've tried, but they're almost too soft in that they separate too fast and divide in your mouth such that it's harder to keep the little blobs on your tongue and savor the flavor. This makes it a better flavor experience to suck on them, but that defeats the purpose of a gummy.

These are very tasty and the only "fault" I can find with them is the price. Usually, Japanese gummy candies are over $3.00 per bag for about a 3.5 oz. bag. I picked these up at Lion Asian market on sale for $1.99, but I had seen them around in other stores for $3.50 in the past. I had to wait a long time for a price reduction.

I whole-heartedly recommend these and would definitely have them again, but I'd still wait for a better price. They're excellent gummy candy in a fairly unique flavor, but they're still gummy. And, as an aside - admit it - you want to see that granny bath picture now, don't you?

Kasugai Chocolate Marshmallow Hard Candy

There are a lot of ways to add variety to a small pool of mundane elements. One way is to start pairing traditionally savory elements with sweet ones. This is how the notion of chocolate-covered bacon was given birth into a braver, fatter world. Another is to play with textures and to put together two things which wouldn't usually be paired. Kasugai has taken that route with these chocolate hard candies.

Up until now, all of my marshmallow experiences were of the variety which included regular chocolate (like the sort you eat in a candy bar) covering, sugar crystals or some sort of quasi-congealed coating (doesn't that sound yummy?). The main idea was that whatever was paired with the puffy marshmallow was capable of yielding when bit into. This allows you to appreciate the soft marshmallow with a variable texture or flavor without shattering your teeth.

I found this intriguing candy at Seiyu supermarket for about 160 yen ($1.92) for a bag of 15 pieces, each the size of a typical piece of hard candy. Each candy is 18 calories of tooth decay potential. The first ingredient is syrup, followed by sugar, and vegetable oil. The marshmallows are made with gelatin, and they don't have that funky Japanese marshmallow flavor or texture that many foreign folks find off-putting.

The peculiar thing about this candy is that the shell is a typical hard candy that is designed to be sucked on rather than bit into. Inside is a soft vanilla-flavored marshmallow. I guess this is a bit like a variation on a Tootsie Pop, though you can't really lick this to get to the center. Instead, you have to suck on the flavorful coating until it either gets thin enough to bite into. I guess there won't be any strange animated commercials with owls who steal your candy for this product.



The chocolate candy on the outside has a rich cocoa flavor and is quite tasty. Once you get to the marshmallow inside, you are treated to a good dose of vanilla and an interesting mix of crispy candy shards with the pillow of marshmallow. It's a very good flavor combination, but there is something about the way in which the entire experience works which just feels "off". I think the main reason for this is that the marshmallow, unlike the chewy center of a Tootsie Pop, starts to disintegrate and collapse so rapidly. That doesn't make this in any way a bad thing. It's just unusual.

While I enjoyed these, I'm not sure I'd get them again. I love marshmallow, but there isn't enough of it here to give a true experience with it. It's more of a hard candy experience than a gooey marshmallow one. I guess the bottom line is that if I want a chocolate hard candy, I'd have the Senjaku Diet Cocoa candy, and if I want a marshmallow, I'll have the real deal which is four times the size of the little tidbit in this candy. This is not enough of one or the other for a repeat buy, but it certainly is tasty enough to finish the bag.