Japanese foods-- Okashi

[purpleplasticdoll]

Help please!

What do you call these snacks ? (the long finger like ones)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigguybigcity/2180772056/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigguybigcity/2179990487/

thanks!

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These snacks are called okoshi おこし (not okashi). In Tokyo, Kaminari Okoshi 雷おこし in Asakusa is very famous.

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Hey, thanks! As a matter of fact, I did buy some of these snacks Okoshi in Asakusa, I google around for Japanese crackers... but couldn't find the name of it. So I posted here.

It turned out to be quite tasty,I did a sample tasting along Nakamise street, yum!

http://www.ajiwai.com/otoko/make/okosi.htm -> a recipe!

[prasantrin]

I just saw mikan KitKat the other day. I didn't buy any--they only came in bags. It was regular (milk?) chocolate, as opposed to white. Has anyone tried it?

[torakris]

I just saw mikan KitKat the other day.  I didn't buy any--they only came in bags.  It was regular (milk?) chocolate, as opposed to white.  Has anyone tried it?

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These sound interesting, especially with milk chocolate instead of white. I haven't seen them yet. Actually I have seen any new things recently at all. I am always checking for KitKats, Pocky and Hi-Chu but none have come up with anything interesting recently....

I am glad to see the banana hi-chu is finally disappearing from the shelves.

[prasantrin]

Three more new KitKats--Gianduja, Tea, and Mixed Fruit (from what I can tell from the picture on the bag, those fruits are peach, strawberry, and banana). The first two are part of the premium line, and are coated with milk chocolate, while the third is a bag of Little KitKats (the little balls) and is white chocolate. I bought one of each, and will eat the first two, but will probably give the mixed fruit ones to a co-worker (banana-flavoured kitkat?).

More importantly, Pure has a new flavour of their sour gummies--mango!! They're really good. Grape is still my favourite, but I think the mango will be second and pink grapefruit will drop to third. I'm a little worried that the mango has replaced pink grapefruit as a flavour since the packaging colour is very similar. I'm sure I'll survive if it has, though! The strawberry ones were really good while they lasted, but they were for December/January only, I think.

Another new chocolate I found was "Panky Chocolate". I admit, I only bought it because of the name. It seems to have grilled bread pieces in it...will post pictures of my goodies tomorrow--still no card reader at home.

[torakris]

Thank you!

I just came back from the store and I bought the mango flavored Pure, it was really good. I looked for the KitKats but all they had was the original flavor..

[prasantrin]

Thank you!

I just came back from the store and I bought the mango flavored Pure, it was really good. I looked for the KitKats but all they had was the original flavor..

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Glad you like the mango Pure!

So far, I've only seen the new KitKats at the Asna convenience store chain. They get a lot of new stuff first, it seems (they were the only place I ever found the strawberry Pure). The mikan kitkats were at Co-op, though, so those may be easier to find.

eta: The tea KitKat tastes like royal milk tea, so if you like that, you'll like these. They're very creamy tasting.

The whole set of goodies (tea kitkat on the left, gianduja on the right):

The tea-flavoured kitkat. I think I only buy these because of the packaging--I think it's so beautifully done for a mass-market chocolate.

The gianduja, by the way, was OK, but I didn't notice that much a difference between it and regular kitkat.

Edited February 25, 2008 by prasantrin (log)

[prasantrin]

My evil candy-sharing co-worker gifted me with a new (for me) bag of treats.

ﾄﾞﾗｲ ﾌﾙｰﾂ ﾋｶﾗﾀﾞ (It might be ﾋﾟｶﾗﾀﾞ)

mango and orange flavour. Man, these are good! They're like Pure, but softer and without the tartness. I'd hate to think that my beloved Pure has been replaced in my heart (and tummy), but that just may be the case!

Now that I have seven days of relative freedom, I might have to go out and search for more snacks to write about!

[Hiroyuki]

BOURBON, headquarted in Niigata, produces some nice chocolate products. Their truffe is just one of them.

Closeup of one piece:

I checked the content of one pack (99 yen), and it contained 12 pieces. Very reasonable and very tasty!

[miladyinsanity]

*looks mournful*

I miss buying all the different types of Japanese snacks I could get back home (Singapore, not Japan, but we get a good selection anyway).

*munches on a bag of too expensive Original Calbee prawn crackers*

[heidih]

*munches on a bag of too expensive Original Calbee prawn crackers*

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Do they at least have the wasabi flavored ones?

[MoGa]

I have a weakness for sour things so I love ume in pretty much all its forms.

But one of my favourite Japanese sweets is Camu Camu Lemon

I've tried the Camu Camu ume and grape varieties, but neither touched on the cheek cramping joy of the lemon kind.

A few years ago I got a taste for this sweet

Except I use 'sweet' loosely. I've not been able to find it again on my last couple of visits, the memorable part of it was the incredibly sour coating. The first few sucks were almost unbearable - like the sour equivalent of a bite on a 'devils penis' chilli pepper. The rest of the candy almost seemed bland in comparison.

[miladyinsanity]

*munches on a bag of too expensive Original Calbee prawn crackers*

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Do they at least have the wasabi flavored ones?

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Nope. :sad:

[Pouncy]

Another new chocolate I found was "Panky Chocolate".  I admit, I only bought it because of the name.  It seems to have grilled bread pieces in it...

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I'm with you on that one...I've taken to mailing Panky and handkerchiefs to my friends in the States as hankypanky boxes.

[MoGa]

I'm with you on that one...I've taken to mailing Panky and handkerchiefs to my friends in the States as hankypanky boxes.

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You too?

Panky in a Hanky (furoshiki style) has proved a popular omiyage. Thankfully, within my budget.

It is bread inside - hence the name: 'pan'ky - geddit?

Edited April 15, 2008 by MoGa (log)

[prasantrin]

At my local Co-op today, I found Chocolate Salt McVities! I wanted to buy some, but I decided to wait till the weekend. I still have about a dozen chocolate malted whopper cookies left to eat, but I think I can finish them by Sunday.

Matcha McVities are also back--and are as yummy as they were a couple of years ago!

And while not exclusively Japanese, I always wondered why Japanese Cheetos tasted like crap, and today I read the ingredients. They have some kind of chicken flavouring in them! US/Canadian Cheetos don't have that! They had other stuff I didn't recognize, too (not that I memorize the ingredients of Cheetos or anything, but the list seemed a bit longer). What's up with that? Why interfere with my pure artificial cheese flavouring?

[nakji]

I'm not sure about the Cheetos, but since I ate my first "cheese mochi" this week, I'm not sure I'll go near another cheeto again in my life. It melted on my tongue! Also, have you seen the new caramel salt flavoured kitkats? My husband bought a bag full of the mini bars at the supermarket, and I've been trying to pretend I didn't know they were in the cupboard for the last few days. This vacation is killing me.

[prasantrin]

I like cheese mochi, too! But Cheetos are much cheesier (cheese mochi has mayo in it, too, while Cheetos don't), so I still crave Cheetos sometimes.

I haven't seen caramel salt kitkats! I hope they don't taste like the caramel kitkats did. Those were horrible! I'll keep an eye out for them, though. (Pastel finally had shio caramel pudding last month, and I had 4!! No more for another year, so I hope Blue Mountain Coffee comes back again soon!)

I did see mini kinako kitkats, though. If they had been single bars, I'd have bought one, but it was the bag of minis.

[miladyinsanity]

Can anybody be bribed to mail caramel salt kitkats to me?

[prasantrin]

Can anybody be bribed to mail caramel salt kitkats to me?

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I'd do it if I could find it. Let me take a more thorough look around.

[miladyinsanity]

Can anybody be bribed to mail caramel salt kitkats to me?

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I'd do it if I could find it. Let me take a more thorough look around.

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Yay! We can trade, though I have no idea what you'd want from the culinary wasteland I live in.

[nakji]

I went back to the shop to look for them, but they were sold out, so sorry!

Rona, it was a "Saty" department store, I don't know if they have any in your area - I'll continue to keep my eye out on this end.

[prasantrin]

Kurozato KitKat--if you like kurozato, this stuff is awesome!

I'm about to try some Mango Little KitKat (the round balls in a bag). I don't have very high hopes for it...

ETA: At first bite, it's not bad, but it's more citrusy than mango-y, and the aftertaste is like most white chocolate-based sweets (i.e. not very pleasant). Plus the smell is overwhelming--the open bag is sitting next to me, and it reeks.

Oh, they're not balls, but little squares. Kind of cute, I think. They look like over-sized orange TicTacs, but without that great baby aspirin flavour.

Edited June 30, 2008 by prasantrin (log)

[torakris]

Kurozato KitKat--if you like kurozato, this stuff is awesome!

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My brother and I had some of those when he was here, they are some of the best Kit Kats I have had in a long time!!

Did you find them in the individual package? I have only been able to find them in the bag.

[nakji]

I bought a ball of the kurozato ones 6 weeks ago at my supermarket, and the last one is still sitting in the bag in the cupboard. That never happens to chocolate in my house! I just couldn't reconcile the taste of chocolate and molasses.

[prasantrin]

I have only found them in individual mini bars so far (about Y40 each!). I'm on the look out for a bag of them.

The only regular-sized bars I've seen have been regular, white, and adzuki. No more matcha.