Meiji Kyo-matcha chocolates: These thin square chocolates have a light green color and ornate embossed floral design. While it has a concentrated matcha flavor, the chocolate itself has a waxy and dense mouthfeel similar to white chocolate. The ingredient list has sugar followed by cocoa butter, which seems about right. 2.5/5.0
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Fukusaya Cube Castella: From Nagasaki, this traditional Japanese cake comes in a thoughtfully crafted package that's a joy to open. The laminated paper box has perforations for bisecting the cube before pulling down its sides to reveal a cake further wrapped in textured waxed paper. The paper that encases the cake is precisely folded like origami. Finally, there is a small plastic "fork" that you bend to snap together to eat the cake. The cake I had was about a week past its due date, and according to the site, no ... (read more)
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Kasugai Squid Pea Snack: I expected this to be a wasabi pea snack but quickly discovered that pea is short for peanuts. Each crunchy rice ball contains a single peanut. The exterior is crispy and tastes a bit like shrimp crackers (the ingredients list cuttlefish). A bag contains two servings, which go quickly. 3.5/5.0
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Kobe Fugetsudo Gaufres: Kobe Fugetsudo is an established Japanese confectionery brand offering various cookies and sweets. Without realizing they were called gaufres, I grew up eating mini gaufres from my local Chinese supermarket. Gaufres are sandwich cookies with wafer-like crisps and a thin layer of cream between. The Kobe Fugetsudo version is massive, at about 6.5" in diameter and just a couple millimeters thick. Unlike the store-bought cookies I had growing up, these wafers are crispy and light with a faint sw... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Maeda-En black sesame ice cream: Barely sweetened ice cream with a distinctly savory black sesame flavor. Very creamy and rich. Smooth texture. 3.0/5.0
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Suzukake sogetsu Doriyaki: This Japanese treat was a gift from a visitor to my lab. The packaging had zero English, but with the help of Google Translate, I determined that the brand is Suzukake, and the snack is called sogetsu. I expected it to be dorayaki, but the pancake wrapper was actually made of glutinous rice instead of cake. As a huge fan of mochi, I am completely in favor of this substitution. Beside the texture, it tasted just like dorayaki, with a red bean filling that was sweeter than other Japanese confe... (read more) 4.5/5.0
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