Japanese snacks thread, gaming related or otherwise.

[kryss]

Hi-chew! All flavours.

[Golgo]

How could I forget: CHOCO-PIE!! (The proper choco-pies, not the knockoffs you can find in Chinese supermarkets)

[danholo]

^ Those 'pastries' are mochi, which is glorious and extremely varied. Try sakura-mochi (only available in cherry blossom season) - it's wonderful, salty bitterness of the leaf contrast with the sweetness of the paste. Japanese bakeries are also superb: kurumi pan and melon pan are great. As for junk sweets, it's got to be Pocky sticks of any flavour but especially 'almond crush'; Morinaga choco-macadamia nuts; Meiji Apollos (strawberry chocolates shaped like/named after the last stage of the Apollo moon mission), and those Meiji chococolate covered bamboo shoot things. Those are just every cornershop junk sweets, though. High-end Japanese sweets like macha-dusted fresh-cream chocolates are as good as anything produced in the West. For savoury stuff there's Calbee shrimp sticks (don't know proper name), or those deep-fried 'peanut-fry' things (again forget the name - sorry!) that are totally dripping in fat so have to be eaten quick before they go rancid. Those are some of my favourites - usually have a boxful to hand.

Ah, how can I forget. I'm ashamed. I visited a Japanese bakery every day for my daily melon pan whilst in Japan. I was completely addicted. I also tried the other glocalized pastries. Awesome stuff. Too bad those Melon pan can't be found here, and they're quite difficult to make.

I wonder how I forgot that... I just had some Japanese traditional sweets which were a bit boring, so I was just thinking about them.

However, Japanese traditional sweets are awesome. If you ever come to Kyoto, check out the Yatsuhashi stuff - I love it.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ky...w=1024&bih=506

Touch?. I've been bested by another post. Yes, those pastries are quite good. I like the soft texture of the dough on those especially. They were quite expensive, though. I bought a few of those in Kyoto in one of the malls downstairs where they have all those fancy gift shops for food. Weirdest thing.

[Anpanman]

I usually bring back a load of senbei and green tea Kit-Kat's. Still plenty left from the last visit in March until I go over again later in the summer.

Brought back some Oi ocha as well, can't believe the price on the US site, we only paid 223 yen per bottle.

https://www.itoen.com/oi-ocha/oi-ocha-2-liter-6-bottles-case.html

[gordon]

Enjoying this thread so far, although it's giving me cravings for Hi-chew sweets. On a related note, does anyone have a favourite UK website for importing sweets or crisps? I've tried Tofu Cute and Cybercandy, and can recommend the former in particular (also Candy Hero for other non-Jp import goodies), but am always open to new places.

[sj33]

Touch?. I've been bested by another post. Yes, those pastries are quite good. I like the soft texture of the dough on those especially. They were quite expensive, though. I bought a few of those in Kyoto in one of the malls downstairs where they have all those fancy gift shops for food. Weirdest thing.

They can be quite pricey if you buy the boxes, starting at 880 yen minimum. However, you can buy the little miniature packets for around 260 yen.



If you buy them like this, you can get four different flavours for slightly over 1000 yen.

[kryss]

Enjoying this thread so far, although it's giving me cravings for Hi-chew sweets. On a related note, does anyone have a favourite UK website for importing sweets or crisps? I've tried Tofu Cute and Cybercandy, and can recommend the former in particular (also Candy Hero for other non-Jp import goodies), but am always open to new places.

My mother used to get stuff from the Japan Centre until she found a shop locally (in Cardiff) that sold stuff.

[huxley]

Kryss -
Only thing I missed during my days in Japan was dry roasted peanuts. In fact, they exist solely in the UK it seems.
Lemon kitkats were the best, I remember one year Huxley was over visiting we bought a shedload between us.

And the case of creme eggs!
But I do recall somebody wolfed down a load!

[gordon]

My mother used to get stuff from the Japan Centre until she found a shop locally (in Cardiff) that sold stuff.

Cheers for that - they've got plenty of good stuff. Just treated myself to some exotic Kit Kats and Kasugai Gumis.

[kryss]

Kryss -
Only thing I missed during my days in Japan was dry roasted peanuts. In fact, they exist solely in the UK it seems.
Lemon kitkats were the best, I remember one year Huxley was over visiting we bought a shedload between us.

And the case of creme eggs!
But I do recall somebody wolfed down a load!

Yeah, reason for divorce alone, that!

Just came back from the import supermarket:


Matcha Kitkat, Satsumaimo sticks, "Otona no Milk" Pocky in a new "pie" format...and some random bacon chips I couldn't say no to for $1.17

[BaronSqwelch]

I get mine from eBay usually...kit Kat's and dagashi selection boxes are quite common now!

[importaku]

Ooh this thread is coming along great, some nice snack suggestions. Really must try & track down some of the more exotic kit kats i always wanted to try the yubari melon ones as let's face it thats the closest im going to get to tasting one unless i win the lottery.

Quite liked these too i remember Yakumo sending me a selection of them a long time ago, bokun habanero crisps they are like the evil relative of the hula hoop they are literally green from the amaout of habanero powder on them, they also have a curious time delay you have about 5 seconds until the heat kicks in so you can stuff away then brace yourself hehe. They are suprisingly moreish even if the packet just gives off the look of pure evil.


Also finally found a cheap source of melon soda, i would import it in liquid form but the weight would kill me in postage costs, you can order it online from the japan centre but it has also a stupidly high markup for just one bottle. Had these before but i thought they stopped making them as Kracie made the version i had before, it's a powder you add to water to make pleasantly fizzy melon soda, found a box of 50 packets for 856 yen going into my shopping cart the next time i put an order in online from Amazon


There are 2 things i love flavourwise, anything melon & anything ramune flavoured.

[chopemon]

Not imported but related: M&S are selling wasabi flavoured popcorn. I don't want to be hyperbolic but this is (currently) the only thing I ever want to eat again for the rest of my life.

[sj33]

I don't know if this is actually available in the UK, but I had cheese and chive popcorn in the cinema in Kyoto and it was the best popcorn I'd ever had. Not had the wasabi flavour yet though.

[BaronSqwelch]

Fancy popcorn is all the rage now...paprika or BBQ are my faves.
Will keep my eye out for the wasabi flavour. If its as addictive as the peanuts my waistline won't thank you Chopemon