Reviewed by
Mary
This month TokyoTreat is celebrating one of the loveliest Japanese events in the Japanese calendar, Moon Viewing, with their Moon Festival Munchies.
Even the box is a special limited edition design.
Along with the usual lovely menu, this month’s booklet gives you a ton of interesting information about this seasonal event, appreciating nature though viewing the harvest moon. From decorating, parties, foods, and folktales, this is a lovely little trove of information and definitely something to enhance the goodies!
KitKat Salt Lemon
Japanese KitKats are the best, and this flavour combination is something I’ve seen in other Japanese snacks. Salt and lemon might seem like a strange combination, but in fact it’s incredibly delicious. The sweetness of the lemony white chocolate and filling is offset beautifully by the hit of salt.
Pandoro Melon Cookie, Porickey Brown Sugar Pretzel Stick, Chee-ZAK
Melon cookies are always a favourite to see in TokyoTreat, a cute panda face cookie with a delicious melon flavour. I’ve had the ham and cheese Poricky sticks before, but this is a new new variety. They really do taste of caramel brown sugar, and are a lovely tasty snack, not overly sweet and with a great crunch. Chee-ZACK is another dagashi favourite, a lovely cheesy corn puff.
Yamato Ahi Curry, Texas Corn Pizza
Crunchy corn sticks with a delicious savoury flavour, these have been popular in Japan for a long time. The corn pizza snack is also corn puffs, and while these Texan Corn Puffs usually come in plain salted flavour, these are a pizza variety which actually do taste remarkably like actual pizza!
Full Moon Pen Cracker, Mannaken Strawberry Waffle
No need to ask why this senbei is called a Full Moon! It’s round and light and crispy salty, and very popular at this time of year. The strawberry waffle can be eaten straight from the pack or heated up and seven with ice cream. It’s made from Amaou strawberry jam, which is a specialty of Fukuoka, and has little edge of tartness to stop it being too sweet.
Sour Paper Candy Apple. Umaibo Seaweed Salt, Kuppy Ramune
The sour paper isn’t paper of course, it’s a flat apple-flavoured gummy strip which a delicious sour fizzy coating. Umaibo is a favourite dagashi; it’s a puffed corn stick (umaibo actually means ‘delicious stick’) that comes in many flavours. This is is quite simple – salted seaweed that really does have that unmistakable taste of the sea. Ramune candies are little fizzy melty sweets that taste of ramune, which is Japanese sods. Sometimes they’re all one flavour, this little bag has an assortment of orange, strawberry, and lemon.
Mikan Moshi, Hello Kitty Star Milk Bread
These delicious mochi (soft rice cakes) are flavoured with iyoken oranges (tart)and mandarins (sweet). The mochi actually contain both the juice and the peel, and the flavour combination is like the ultimate orange, and goes beautifully with the lovely soft marshmallowy mochi texture.
The little Star Bread (again, no prizes for guessing why they’re in the box!) are soft stars with a gentle sweet taste and a lovely light texture. You can eat them alone or slice and add filling. but cute and tasty!
Donbei Tempura Udon, Ume Soda
This udon noodle bowl has a wonderful savoury flavour and includes Kakiage Tempura, which is a type go light vegetable fritter. The menu suggests you can add an egg yolk, either poached, or if you’re feeling daring, raw, and allow it to cook in the hot broth.
The soda is made from a traditional plum wine (no alcohol!) and honey for a beautifully fragrant soda, really a special and unique taste.
