Pocky (and Pocky-like snacks)

[Sandra Levine]

By the way, what exactly IS a wub?  I've just used one without knowing.

It seems to mean love but kind of embarrassed to say so.

[jhlurie]

Of course one does not need to read Japanese to appreciate young girls eating Pocky in suggestive poses... 

But... Mark... it's such a... catchy tune. You mean you didn't like it for the catchy tune?

Pocky, Pocky, Pocky...

(and I expected TOMMY to be the one to make the suggestive comments! )

[Rachel Perlow]

Green Tea

*Glico Mousse Pocky Green Cha - Thick coating with pronounced green color and strong green tea flavor with good and slightly bitter aftertaste, long finish

*Kirin Nama Cha - Similar thickness, light green color, strong initial taste of green tea, but weaker aftertaste

Both of these are good if you like green tea.

*Kirin Gogo No Kocha - Thick coating of chocolate and black tea. Very strong tea flavor, has an aroma reminiscent of a fresh pack of cigarettes (but not in a bad way)

[Rachel Perlow]

Butterscotch

Glico Pudding Pocky - for kids. Thin coating of butterscotch flavored fudge with chocolate swirl. OK but not great.

[cabrales]

*Glico Mousse Pocky Green Cha - Thick coating with pronounced green color and strong green tea flavor with good and slightly bitter aftertaste, long finish

*Kirin Nama Cha - Similar thickness, light green color, strong initial taste of green tea, but weaker aftertaste

Both of these are good if you like green tea.

*Kirin Gogo No Kocha - Thick coating of chocolate and black tea. Very strong tea flavor, has an aroma reminiscent of a fresh pack of cigarettes (but not in a bad way)

I'd appreciate members' input on where the tea-flavored Pockys described by Rachel can be purchased in central areas within NYC.

[=Mark]

eGullet can handle Japanese just fine. The character sets have to be installed on your browser, though.

Beg to differ...

I've got the character sets on my browser, and could see them fine on the Pocky site. In fact I cut and pasted them from the site into the eGullet text input box and they were gobbldygook from thereon.

Are you telling me you're seeing Japanese characters in the above posts?

[Rachel Perlow]

I would say you'd have to go to a Japanese store, rather than a general asian grocery. We found those at Mitsuwa, but they were not at Han Ah Reum.

[jhlurie]

Well, these guys seem to be willing to SHIP you some Green Tea Mousse Pocky: Click Here.

(edit - just saw someone else post this...)

also, Suzanne F, elsewhere on eGullet posted this:

Hong Kong Supermarket, at the corner of East Broadway and Allen Street (NYC Chinatown) has a HUGE selection of Pocky. Also of stuff I noted in the "Offal" thread.

[=Mark]

Pocky, Pocky, Pocky...

(and I expected TOMMY to be the one to make the suggestive comments!  )

Well, I was waiting, but felt compelled to say something about it. Where's the Pocky Boys Drill team? Is Pocky being specifically targeted at pre-teen girls? Is it a marketing conspiracy?

Meanwhile Jon, Have you been getting my PMs? I seem to be sending out messages to several folks and not getting replies. Was wondering about your attending the NJ Thai Dinner this coming Sunday (Sorry to post this publically, but as noted the PMs aren't doin' it...)

[jhlurie]

I got the last one, Mark. Yeah, I'll be there. I just didn't know for sure until today.

As for the Pocky Drill Team... yeah, right. You can continue to think that they are marketing for teenaged girls if you want... but did you notice that "Men's Pocky" is prominent in the end-cap of that commercial?

[LaNiña]

Ok so maybe it's here somewhere but I'm lazy...I'm thinking of heading to Chinatown after work - anybody know where there's a decent Pocky selection?

[BON]

As for the Pocky Drill Team... yeah, right.  You can continue to think that they are marketing for teenaged girls if you want...

This Pocky Drill Team is a song & dance unit named " Morning MUSUME

(meanign "Daugher")". They are the most popular group in Japan right

now. Of course, the main target is teenaged girls as well as of the other

sweet procucts. But the group is supprted by both boys and girls.

FYI, Pocky is the registered trade mark of GLICO. So FRAN, a product of

Meiji, is not Pocky. FRAN is FRAN. Nobody in Japan call it Pocky!

[BON]

POCKY VENDING MACHINES?!?  Where in the world are there Pocky vending machines?  Now that I've calmed down, I assume it's in Japan, where vending machines are very popular, I've heard.

This is partially wrong.

Yes, there are uncountable numbers of vending machines in Japan, but

most of them for cigarettes or canned soft drinks. I've never seen

Pocky Vending Machine. I suppose it's easier in US (like in University dorm)

to find vending machines for sweets.

Pocky is usually bought at so-called convenient stores like Seven-eleven,

which you can find every corner in Tokyo. or at kiosk of railway stations.

[Rachel Perlow]

Thanks for the extra info Bon. Please note that in my Pocky tasting (which includes Pocky-like products) I correctly identified Fran as a Meiji product.

[jhlurie]

Bon, since Pocky has a lot of imitators, is there a word or name that covers all of the various products that are similar to Pocky in appearance?

"Pocky-like" seems like a good word to use temporarily, but we'll use the real word if one exists.

[BON]

Bon, since Pocky has a lot of imitators, is there a word or name that covers all of the various products that are similar to Pocky in appearance?

jhlurie,

As far as I know, there is not a specific word covering pocky and similar products in appearance.

I don't mind if you call them all "pocky", since it's not Ramen. I cannot stand to see people take instant beef noodle or chow-mien as Ramen mistakenly, though!

[B Edulis]

Nobody has mention my favorite Pocky, which I haven't seen for a while, so maybe it's no longer made -- they call it "tea" flavored, but it's actually chocolate flavored with Earl Grey (bergamot). It's quite good -- right up there with "Men's Pocky."

But why isn't there "Women's Pocky"? Or "Children's Pocky"? Perhaps they could call little ones "Pockettes"? Or maybe that's what all fans of Pocky should be called.....

[Jinmyo]

B Edulis, that might solve the ideological rift between the Pockies and the Pockers.

[torakris]

My favorite pocky is the coconut one. I usually hide the box from the kids when I buy so I can eat the whole thing by myself.

My favorite of the Fran is the the matcha (green tea) one.

These stick type sancks are very popular over here, but there is no one name that they are are referred to, and I have never seen them sold in a vending machine.

I can read all of the Japanese, no problem, but then again I have Japanese OS.

“ú–{Œê‚à‘‚¯‚Ü‚·‚æB

[Schielke]

I am a huge pocky fan. My old roomate was insane with pocky lust. He used the old boxes to cover his door with them as a kind of wall paper. He had enough for more than two doors worth. Last I heard, he was thinking about laquering them and making a suit of traditional japanese armour with them.

I have had:

Chocolate

Strawberry

Men's (dark chocolate)

Cocoa

Pudding

Burnt Cream

Giant Chocolate

Giant Strawberry

Almond Crush

White Almond Crush

A few other Crush types

Rainbow Special Edition

Green Tea

Chocolate Mousse

White Chocolate Mousse

Various other Mousse types

And then other kinds such as Fran.

Pocky is da bomb.

Ben

p.s. they are called pocky because that is the sound they make when you eat them. Pocky! Pocky!

[Schielke]

oops, I forgot marble pocky and almond pocky.

My friend was convinced that chicks loved the pudding flavor the best. He would attract them from the woodwork when he opened a box.

Ben

[StephenT]

I've had strawberry (my favourite), chocolate, white chocolate and almond. Strawberry's been my favourite. My gripe is that when I get them often most of the sticks are broken.

[torakris]

If you really need a good laugh, check out the engrish.com site noticed on the bottom of the box.

It's a good site, but humor aside think about this box from a culinary perspective.

"Bourbon" "Pickle" "Chocolate" "Lemon" "Milk"

My head hurts just LOOKING at that box.

Why they had to throw the word pickle in there, I will never understand. Of course the Japanese just love to use English with out giving consideration to its meaning. For example the name of the apartment I live in is Privy Tachibana (Tachibana being the name of the city I live in), my neighbors always get a kick out of it now that they know what it means. And just down the street is a woman's hair salon called gout, I just can't get myself to go in there!

I think I will go check out the Pocky selection at the drug store today, the kids will be ecstatic because I don't normally buy too many snacks.

[=Mark]

Yippee! My local Wegmans carries 4 or 5 flavors of Pocky!

[torakris]

I had to bring this back up because I found this site of "RARE" pocky!

http://www.bento.com/morefood.html

Honestly I have nothing better to do then search the web for information about pocky!

OK couldn't get a direct link, click on the pocky page of the fun links and then click on the the large pocky box on the bottom of the page.

Edited April 21, 2003 by torakris (log)