Snowdays So Seoulful shaved ice: Snowdays is a shaved ice dessert chain in NYC. Over time, they've expanded their menu and also store concept; now, most also stock various Asian snacks in a convenience-store-like format alongside their shaved ice. I went to the shop in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, on the edge of Sunset Park and ordered their So Seoulful, a combination of black sesame shaved ice, a spoonful of red bean, segments of vanilla waffle cookie, and a drizzle of thick peanut syrup. The black sesame shaved ice was very light ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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味自慢 木于卜饅頭: I treated myself to this unusual snack from the Japanese supermarket Tokyo Fish Market without knowing anything about what it was. Guided by just a few words of English, I understand that it's a wheat cake filled with a red bean paste dyed white and yellow and topped with black sesame seeds. Each cookie is generously sized, but at 235 calories each, you would hope so. The snack overall eats a tad dry and is best accompanied by milk (I imagine it would pair well with tea too). It's intere... (read more) 3.0/5.0
tokyofishmarket japanese redbean cake 木于卜饅頭 3.0
Blockheads Black sesame shaved ice with red bean, rice cakes, almond jelly, and condensed milk: Finally got to try this LA-based Taiwanese shaved ice chain. The black sesame ice cream had decent flavor but the texture was not as fluffy as I knew it could be given my recent experience at Powder in San Francisco. At Blockheads, they make their rice cakes in house, which are essentially tang yuan (the mochi-like glutinous rice dumplings that often accompany red bean soup). I expected their almond jelly to be almond jello, but it was more like the harder gelatin cubes often used in Asia... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Usagiya Dorayaki: I first learned of the Japanese snack Dorayaki from Doraemon, a cartoon for kids about a robot cat whose favorite snack is the red-bean filled pancake. Since watching Doraemon as a child, I've enjoyed eating Dorayaki in the states mostly from the refrigerated aisle of grocery stores, where the packets always contain silica gel to maintain freshness. I was excited to try freshly made ones at Usagiya, a famous confectionary shop in Ueno specializing in this dessert. For a little under two d... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese ueno desserts redbean usagiya dorayaki 3.0
Morinaga Pino Uji Matcha Ice Cream: These are popular frozen treats you can buy at most shops in Japan. They're shaped like large Dots candies with a thin outer coating and ice cream interior. The classic version has vanilla ice cream with a chocolate coating. I purchased their Uji Matcha flavor, which tastes of a mix of matcha and red bean, though both the shell and ice cream were matcha-green. I was surprised how much red bean flavor came through. The coating is not like American coated-ice cream, which tends to be cris... (read more) 3.0/5.0
icecream japanese dessert redbean Maruetsu morinaga pino uji matcha ice cream 3.0