Reviewed by
Mary
It’s time to welcome the new year Japan-style with the latest box of goodies from Tokyo Treat, Snackin’ New Year!
This month has an assortment of treats and snacks that resonate with the new year theme. The menu booklet is packed as always. There’s a comprehensive listing of every item in the box, which includes an allergy guide and often something about the history or cultural context.
There’s also lots more to learn about the theme, New Year in Japan, which is a big celebration. There’s food, culture, sports, and even different gifts at this time of year.
KoiKeya Nori Salt Chips, KitKat Strawberry Chocolate Cake
These delicious savoury potato chips are flavoured with nori (seaweed) and chilli flakes, which give them a nice bit of kick to add to the saltiness of the nori.
The KitKats are yet another new variety, a limited edition flavoured with strawberry juice and rum! Cake is a an essential part of any party, and these flavours are a fantastic twist on the regular KitKat.
Teorian Somen Noodles, Fanta Premier Pear
Long soba noodles are a new year tradition, and they signify a long full life. And as they’re thin, it means they’re easier to cut, so you can ‘cut off’ any misfortunes from the previous year. As to flavour they are deliciously sacvory with dashi, bonito, and mushrooms. The perfect warming dish for a cold night.
Fanta Premier is a range of premium soft drinks made from real fruit juice. This pear version is actually made from European pears, and is both sweet and tart. Definitely a big but above your regular soda, and if you’re not a drinker it would be perfect to toast the new year too!
Spy X Family Anya Candy, Bite-Size Azuki Butter Toast, Caramel Taro
These hard candies are inspired by the manga Spy X Family and features the heroine, Anya, who is a little girl who is telepathic. They have a lovely sweet-sour fruity flavour, and are individually wrapped so you don’t have to worry about them getting sticky if you don’t eat them all at once.
Butter Toast is a popular snack, made from pieces of bread which are buttered and sugared and then dried to make a delicious crunchy sweet slice. These are tiny bite-size version flavoured with sweet Azuki (red bean), specially to ‘toast’ the new year! (Sorry.)
Ume Plum Jam Senbei, Good Luck Taiyaki, Mugi Puffed Cereal
Senbei are flat rice crackers, and these are lightly sweetened with traditional sour plum. Taiyaki are a traditional Japanese pastry shaped like a fish, and this bubbly chocolate-filled wafer version is a popular candy in Japan. It also has a significance for New Year, as the red sea bream is a symbol of good luck in Japan. The little puffed cereal pieces are flavoured with milky coffee, and they can be eaten dry or add milk for a great coffee-and breakfast combination.
Don Don Yaki, Soba Snack, Black Thunder Butter Cookie, Delivery Truck Candy, Strawberry Puffed Rice
Don Don Yak are a favourite Japanese snack. They’re little crackers with a wonderful umami taste from the Japanese sauce flavour, and they’re actually named for the nouns of the drums that appear at Japanese festivals. Soba Snack is reminiscent of the Yakisoba savoury noodle street food dish, and is a mixture of puffed rich and crunchy noodles flavoured with nori and tangy Japanese sauce.
Black Thunder is one of Japan’s most popular chocolate and biscuit bars, known for its deep chocolate flavour. This is a butter cookie version, rather like a blondie, and also contains creamy cashews. The little truck is a cute package of strawberry mints, and is meant to represent a delivery truck sending out traditional new year gifts.
Finally, Strawberry Puffed Rice is little crispy puffed rice pieces coated in sweet strawberry chocolate.
