Yoshimi Yakitokibi: Several months ago, I wrote a review of Trader Joe's mochi rice nuggets, a fried savory glutinous rice snack unlike any other mochi I had eaten up to that point. Irregularly shaped, almost like golden nuggets, they were crunchy and dense - the polar opposite of the chewy texture I associate with mochi. Recently, I was gifted a bag of corn-flavored fried mochi crackers, brought back all the way from Japan, where this particular flavor can only be purchased in Hokkaido. The texture and shape was remarkably similar to that of the bag from TJ's, and in fact, upon doing further research, I found on the TJ's site that their mochi nuggets were modeled after a snack found at a Japanese airport. I was excited to be eating the real deal, straight from the source. The Japanese corn-flavored snack has a unique sweet corn flavor combined with a high level of seasoning. At the bottom of the bag was my favorite part - crispy kernels of fried corn. Looking at an English translation of the ingredients list, it appears that the snack actually contains chicken, which would explain the deeply savory flavor. Personally, I still prefer soft sweet mochi, but there is no doubt that this distinctive snack and flavor are worth a try. 3.0/5.0

japanese corn hokkaido mochi crackers friend asian yoshimi yakitokibi 3.0