Reviewed by
Mary
This month, TokyoTreat has come up with a great fun theme for their box of snacks and candy from Japan – Ninja Snackventure!
The box is plain, which unfortunately showed up that it got a bit wet in the rain! However no damage was done at all, and all the contents were absolutely fine.
The menu booklet inside tells you all about the goodies, and also includes a useful allergy guide. As well as details on the snacks, there is also lots of fun trivia about Ninja culture in Japan, including history, its place in pop culture, and also the female ninjas!
Usually I’d start with the KitKat, but this time I just had to start with the Katana Candy Sword. This cool candy & toy combo is in the shape of a ninja sword, and even has a little pack of cardboard throwing starts attached! Inside are different flavoured gumballs. There’s also a tiny pack of Ninja Grape Mints. There’s a little scratch-off panel on the package that might show a winning silver star, and while you’d have to be in Japan to redeem the small cash prize, it’s still a lot of fun! The Endow Pea Chips are yummy round crisps made from pea protein, and they are very crunchy with a lovely umami flavour.
This month’s KitKat is Chocolate Orange. It’s always a popular flavour combination with the crunchy wafers sandwiched and covered with delicious orange flavoured dark chocolate. There’s a ninja punch in the Kabuki Wasabi Rice Crackers where the famous Japanese horseradish flavour has a greta kick and is combined with lovely soy flavour.
Potato Fries are a simpler snack this month, plain salted crunchy snacks in the shape of French fries. The Corn Potage Snacks are a mystery item this month, I’ve seen them before but they are very good. They’re crispy corn puffs flavoured with corn potage, or creamy soup, and they do taste amazingly exactly like corn chowder! Sesame Crunch have a very traditional Japanese flavour of black sesame. The crunchy snacks are coated with sesame and lightly sweetened for a lovely nutty flavour. Shrimp Crackers are another savoury snack. Similar in texture to the Potato Fries, they have a strong shrimp flavour, and a great reminder of seafood.
Another ninja-themed snack are the Ninja Hard Grape Gummies. Japan has a lot of chewy candies and several different grades of chewiness, and these are definitely in the harder range. They’re also pleasantly sour, a greta treat for any sour candy fans. The Kinako Mochi Stick is flavoured with one of my favourite things, kinako, which is roasted soybean flour. It has a yummy nutty flavour, a bit like peanut butter, and combined with a traditional mochi it’s utterly delicious! The little Pandaro Panda Cookies are a lovely cute snack, each one has a different panda face on it and the cookie itself is buttery and crumbly. Another traditional Japanese treat, the Strawberry Dorayaki is a really yummy pastry-type of snack. It consists of two fluffy pancakes with strawberry cream in-between. It’s a nit like a whoopee pie and they come in lots of different varieties, but this strawberry one has a great contrast between the sweet pancakes and the slightly tart filling.
This month’s ramen dish is fiery Spicy Ramen Noodles. They are inspired by spicy and flavoursome Korean-style noodles, and they definitely have a kick! They can be eaten alone or you can add whatever protein you like, and as they come in their own bowl they’re ideal as a lunchbox meal. Finally, this month’s drink is Gold Nebuta Apple Juice. While the ninja didn’t necessarily drink apple juice, the design on the can of a traditional Japanese warrior does bring ninja to mind!
