Kameda Kotsubukko : Bite-sized pieces of chocolate, tins of mint, or take-away cookies never work on me as impulse grocery store purchases. But rice crackers with too-cute packaging positioned directly next to the checkout does the job. This pack of 4 snack-sized bags of sweet and savory soy flavored crackers have a deep savory taste and are portioned larger than most so that a bag is actually filling. But beyond the cute Japanese branding, they aren't particularly distinctive as far as rice crackers go. I ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Kikkoman Banana Soy Milk: Kikkoman has a bunch of fruit-flavored soy milk juice boxes that come in similar packaging, but differently colored. I got the banana milk from 7-11 to try, but it was shockingly sweet, like drinking liquid banana runts. Would not again. 2.0/5.0
drinks japanese 711 kikkoman banana soy milk 2.0Kong Kee unsweetened Soyadrink: Recently, I wrote about how American soy milk is far too sweet. On a recent trip to Hmart, I purchased Soyadrink, the one soy milk you will find at any Asian grocery store. Soyadrink is the drink to get to understand the sharp contrast between an Asian and American palate. First, the drink is thinner in viscosity and actually has a soybean-like aftertaste (think plain tofu). This light flavor nonetheless lingers on your palate long after drinking. Additionally, no one bothers to fortify thes... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Marusan sesame honey soymilk: Taste is reminiscent of black sesame porridge you can buy in powder packets. All three flavors are present (black sesame, honey, and soymilk) but fail to work together. Very sweet, strange flavor overall. Not recommended. 1.5/5.0
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Marusan Sweet Potato Soy Milk: Similar to Taiwan, there are a lot of flavored milk products on the grocery shelves. I decided to give a few a try. This one is a sweet potato-flavored soy milk that seems to only come in juice boxes, probably meant for kids. It does taste like sweet potato, but it's extremely sweet and as a result hard to finish even for a small juicebox. Imagine the pumpkin-flavored desserts you get in the US around Thanksgiving, but sweet-potato flavored. 2.5/5.0
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Meiji Tofu Soy Milk: On my last trip to LA, my top priority was getting to try tofu from Meiji Tofu, a small shop in Gardena that specializes in hand-made tofu. I learned about Meiji Tofu from discovering that many restaurants in LA use its product. Unfortunately, after arriving at the shop at 10:30am on Sunday morning, we found they had sold out (they open at 8:30) and were thus closed for the day. Luckily, several Japanese grocery stores in the area stock their tofu and soy milk, so we quickly drove to Maru... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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