Random Picture #102

Back in 1988 when I first came to Japan for a vacation and to meet my future husband, I went to Tokyo Disneyland. Though it is a very popular destination with the natives, my husband and I weren't really drawn to it over the years. However, with our departure at the end of March, we decided it was time to put the other bookend on the story of our life in Japan and make a return trip. Twenty-four years later, we showed up at the gate to the Japanese incarnation of Disneyland. The food offerings were actually disappointing and sparse. Most of the snacks were repeated at every gift shop on the grounds. One thing which was relatively common was fresh popcorn. Each vendor sold a different flavor and this was one of the more uniquely Japanese ones. I'm sure I won't be seeing soy sauce and butter popcorn at amusement parks back home. 

White Adult Sweetness KitKat

I'm not sure what to make of the "adult" line of KitKats in Japan. When I ask my Magic 8 Ball about whether or not it is popular, it's saying that all signs point to "yes". In addition to the original less sweet semi-sweet release, there is currently a white chocolate and green tea version. On the other hand, I keep seeing this particular KitKat stacked in huge boxes and for a reduced price. Shortly after my husband and I paid full price (100 yen/$1.25) for this bar, I found it on sale for a mere 59 yen at Okashi no Machioka discount snack shop. I had seen the original version available for the same price not too long ago and I figure that the market must be flooded for it to show up in such a proverbial bargain bin. However, if it's not popular, why does Nestle Japan expand the line?

For white chocolate in particular, I'm quite pleased at the development of an reduced sweetness version as it tends to run on the cloyingly sweet side normally. I'm hoping that scaling back the sweetness will mean good things for the likes of me, though I honestly was not the one who chose this bar. It was my husband's choice. These days, he wears the pants in the family when it comes to buying KitKats. Normally, for big life purchases, we both have one leg in those pants, but I'm willing to defer to his wishes when it comes to consumer confectionary.

The main difference between this and the standard white chocolate KitKat offerings is that the filling is dark in color. I believe it is filled with finely crushed bitter chocolate cookies (like the dark portion of an Oreo cookie) rather than a super thin layer of cream, or at least that such cookies are mixed with the cream. This smells like standard white chocolate, which is to say like frosting and sugar. The first bite seems quite sweet initially, but then the filling mellows it out a bit and provides a flatter experience that mellows out the white chocolate. Overall, the mixture is far more palatable than plain most white chocolate offerings, but it lacks any serious depth of flavor. Still, as a KitKat with all of its textural delights, the balance is quite pleasant.

I would have liked this a bit better if there was some more profound bitterness to the interior of the bar, but I really have no complaints. That being said, I definitely wouldn't take this over a kinako or plain milk chocolate big bar, or even a regular milk chocolate KitKat. It's good, but not great. Note that this is a box of 3 mini bars of 69 calories each rather than two packages with longer fingers of around 100 calories. This new format is increasingly common for the standard KitKat in Japan and likely caters to the smaller snacking habits of Japanese consumers.

Genghis Khan Caramels

When my husband and I decided to leave Japan, my focus on food reviewing changed. Not only do I expect to cram in more reviews of fresh food before it completely drops off my radar, but there are certain "staples" which I thought I should review and would get around to one day whose time has come. The time had definitely come to sample these nearly infamous "meat" caramels.

Like many strange foods, these hail from Hokkaido in Northern Japan. I don't know if we're supposed to believe rampaging hordes of Mongolian warriors once trampled their way through leaving behind lumps of sweetened meat sweets or if this is a reference to a particular food in Japan. This is a country which calls an "all you can eat" buffet "Viking", after all. They do seem to have a thing about warrior groups and their food.

Since I am not a particularly big meat fan (these are supposed to be based on lamb curry), I faced this with some trepidation. Of course, even if I was the sort of person likely to tuck into a bit of sheep flesh, I'm not sure having it in caramel form would light my fire. This is a truly strange concept, but most cultures have their oddities in this regard. America has a garlic festival in which garlic ice cream is on offer. Garlic ice cream is eminently more practical than meat candy, however. If you're a woman who has suffered a back break from your vampire boyfriend and you don't want him to come around, you can console yourself and ward him away with said cool, creamy sweet.

I've written a lot of descriptions of many flavors and it's always somewhat challenging to convey in words what occurs on the tongue. This one is one of the harder ones to really describe since any mention of meat or meat flavors is likely to incite the concurrent smell and textural aspects in the sensory memories of the reader. One thing you do realize when you try a lot of faux items, like cheesecake yogurt, is that the texture plays a huge role in how you enjoy something. In the case of this caramel, it is less offensive for not being saddled with meat aspects aside from a certain savory note. Sugar on meat is disgusting, but a caramel flavored with meat flavorings doesn't have to be quite so gross. Honestly, this was pretty good. It mainly tasted like caramel with a bit of the flavor of the part of a piece of meat that is caramelized with cooking. You know, the little bits which get just a bit burnt near the edges and carry a certain chargrilled meat flavor? Dilute that by at least 70% and that's what this has going for it with just a hint of meatiness.

While this absolutely was not disgusting or bad, it's really not my cup of tea either. A snack doesn't have to be bad for me to be indifferent to it. It just has to not be to my tastes. As a novelty and particularly as a "weird" food souvenir that won't totally gross people out, this is a great little snack, but as a repeat eat, it's not going to make it into my rotation.

Random Picture #101

The stores recently have been flooded with products meant to encourage students to do well on their school entrance tests. These cute-looking boxes of Koala's March cookies feature their mascot in a daruma doll get-up and different designs are imprinted on the cookies. This is part of a Lotte series which encourages these products for those who "aim to succeed" at their entrance tests. Since lots of study uses up glucose and these cookies are chock full of sugar, they may indeed help a person succeed. Personally, I'm not a fan of these cookies as they are too sweet for me, but I do love the box designs

Look Peach Nectar Chocolate

Donkey's years ago... actually, I don't know what a donkey's year is, but it was actually three years ago, I reviewed Fujiya's Peach Nectar beverage. It was delicious and I deemed it worthy of being called "nectar". Because the drink was so tasty, I was delighted to discover that there is a current "explosion"... okay, more of a tiny blast... of treats fusing the drink's sensibilities with their own. One of them is Country Ma'am cookies and another is this Look chocolate. I've not had the greatest experiences with that line of cookies so I'll either skip them or leave them for later review, but I was very keen on this chocolate... okay, not actually "very keen." The truth is that I have some reservations about fruit and chocolate mixes. It's not that they can't be good, but more the case that they can easily go wrong. 

One of the things about Look is that it seems to either go very well or to be completely unimpressive. The verdict on this is that things "went pretty well". The filling is soft and has an excellent texture and has some pretty intense peach notes. It's more like a puree than a peach-flavored cream, though it is delightfully creamy and light in texture. There's a bit of a citric acid bite to it, but not so much as to spoil the sweetness or chocolate flavor. It's a much nicer consumer level release than I would have expected, though I think it helps that it is extremely fresh. I think the texture may suffer as the candy ages.

All of that being said, I can imagine this may not be to everyone's tastes despite the high quality feel of the flavors. Peach and chocolate aren't as natural a pairing as orange, lemon or banana. If you are a fan of the Nectar drink or the idea of peaches with chocolate doesn't strike you as odd, I'd definitely say give this a try. Keep in mind that the fruit flavor is not muted so you'll have to deal with stronger flavors. Currently, these are on offer everywhere I go from supermarkets to discount shops to convenience stores. I paid only 79 yen ($1.00) for mine at Okashi no Marche snack shop, but a more usual price is 100 yen ($1.27). Chances are they won't be around for more than 4 months or so and probably will not make a return to the market in the near future (if ever). 

Personally, I liked this quite a bit, but it's definitely something I'd only consume occasionally. Given the choice, I'd always choose a real peach and after that, the Fujiya Peach Nectar drink. This is more of a palate challenger and I'd tend for pure chocolate over something like this, but it was certainly enjoyable and I in no way regret buying a box.