I thought this box would be interesting because 1. I love candy and 2. I love to try new candy! Whenever we go to Canada or when we cruise to different islands and countries, I always buy their unusual items that we can't find here. It's cool that they have different things and I like having access to that.
Skoshbox ships their items in corrugated boxes made from 100% post consumer waste material. The people who bring us these Japanese treats were raised by Japanese mothers and lived in Tokyo so they grew up eating these odd items. Since I have no idea what these packages say, I have to take their word for it that they are edible! |
Konbu (Kelp) and Ume Flavored Jelly
Who wouldn't want to eat some kelp jelly? Huh? Do I have any takers? Ok then...I'll try it.
This was a block of jellified something. It was square and coated in sugar. It had a strong plum flavor to it. That makes sense since there was plum flavoring in the ingredients. Not a very strong kelp taste - which is good, I imagine! I gave half to my husband and did not tell him what it was. He thought it was very gummy. It was pretty sticky. I don't imagine it would be something I would buy. All in all though, it wasn't unpleasant.
A stick of Ume (Pickled Plum) Tea.
The ingredients say to simply mix with hot water and enjoy.
The ingredients for this also say kelp and plum flavoring. I'm detecting a theme here. I have not tried this tea yet but I now imagine it will taste much like the Konbu and Ume jelly. Look at me! I'm speaking Japanese!
Seriously though....pickled plum?
The fruit candies are pretty self explanatory. The flavors you might get are apple, peach, grapefruit, orange or grape. I think I got apple and orange.
The milk mint candy is described as cool mint between milky candies.
None of these look too dangerous or earth shattering. I don't think they will require much of an effort to eat.
A japanese version of the bubbly chocolate from the UK - and also in the US.
We used to have aerated chocolate here many years ago and I have noticed that in the past year you can buy it here again. It's just chocolate that has been shot full of air so that there is air bubbles in it.
No big deal. But it was the first thing we ate.
Crispy Rice Cracker with Creamy Strawberry Drizzle
I'm not a huge fan of this kind of thing, especially strawberry flavored. This package has 2 biscuits in it that are light as a feather so it's that kind of flaky airy stuff that has no taste, I bet. It has some drizzles on it which I imagine are strawberry flavored.
I'll probably take a bite of this but I can't see myself liking it. I just don't like things like this. But in order to embrace my new Japanese persona I will have to try it at least! Then I'll give the rest to my husband!
Biscuits covered in chocolate or strawberry. I'm glad I got the chocolate covered biscuits! This package had about 5 or 6 little cone shaped biscuits and they were covered in chocolate. The chocolate was not of the expensive or really great kind but it was sugary and made the biscuit taste good.
We had no trouble "trying" these out and the verdict was that they were delicious!
Vanilla roll cake with butter cream filling.
This tasted exactly like you would think. It was soft and rolled up just like a little jelly roll and it was filled with a pink cream filling.
I'm not so sure what is so Japanese about this, but I guess since it is covered in Japanese writing, then it is authentically Japanese.
A "pub mix" of nuts, senbei, dried fish & shrimp crackers.
What the ????
OH NO! I looked at the ingredients and I'm not sure I want to eat this. It has cuttlefish in it! Have you seen how adorable a cuttlefish is? A few years ago I decided I was going to raise some cuttlefish because I had interacted with some at an aquarium and fell in love with them. THEN I learned that their life span is only 18 months and I thought that it would not be a good idea for me. I would grow too attached to them just to have them die too soon. I bought a rubber cuttlefish instead and he sits here at my desk with me and he will never die. Here is a picture of my rubber cuttlefish. If you happen to see one at an aquarium, definitely go see it and get it's attention, because it will interact with you and change colors as you excite it. They are so cool.
Something else has caught my attention though. This is called Senbei mix and that wafer thing with the strawberry drizzle on it is also called Senbei. I wonder what's up with that?
Skoshbox is $12 a month with free shipping. I would actually like to try more of these boxes and maybe I will in the future. I'm usually up for a challenge and it appears that the Japanese just might have some in store for me.
This concludes today's Japanese candy lesson.
Visit http://skoshbox.com/ to learn more about this company.
~~ Sharon ~~