Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Kinako Ohagi KitKat


This is a shiny new KitKat that was released yesterday. My husband came home from the gym brandishing it. I normally regard all things kinako with happy anticipation, but I've got two KitKats (sports drink and vegetable - reviews to come in the near future, hopefully) in the fridge waiting for sampling, so I was a little less excited about another being added to the pile. Nonetheless, it looked interesting and I would have purchased it if I had come across it first.


The traditional Japanese sweet pictured on the box is a ball of what looks like rice-based cake (mochi) covered in kinako powder and filled with red beans. I wasn't familiar with "ohagi" and didn't come up with anything definitive when I did a search, but I believe that it is a sweet which has a different name depending on the time of year. In fall, it's called "hagi" and has other names including botamochi. "Hagi" comes from some fall flower, as best I can tell.


The bar smells vaguely of kinako, which isn't surprising considering that the kinako is infused with the chocolate on the outside as well as the cream between the wafers. The first bite is mostly milk chocolate, but the chaser is highly reminiscent of the dreaded Oshiruko KitKat. That taste is a bit of a woodsy, vaguely "mossy" flavor. It's hard to describe, but it is what you think forest dirt might taste like. I realize that this flavor is not the kinako, but the mochiko puffs that are embedded in the chocolate. Both the Oshiruko KitKat and this one have those puffs in common.

This wasn't bad, and I will probably eat the rest, but I definitely wouldn't repeat it because of the flavor of those puffs. The overall flavor is okay, and I'm betting I'd love this if they took out the mochi puffs, but they just ruin the finish for me.

This is also reviewed at Jen's KitKat blog here.

8 comments:

Blue Shoe said...

Interesting...I'm not familiar with ohagi myself, but will probably try this Kit Kat flavor if I see it.

By the way, I'm a big fan of your 1000 Things blog. Keep it up!

Orchid64 said...

Hi, Blue Shoe, and thanks for your kind words and for reading both of my blogs.

I found your blog via Job Link Japan on Twitter and have been following it as well!

Allie, Peeps2 said...

Awww...this makes me so sad! As soon as I saw "Kinako" and "Kit-Kat" I just about leaped from my chair in joy. I LOVED the previous Kinako Kit-Kat (and have the last one I could find stockpiled away in the freezer for future use - mwahahaha). Might have to try this one anyway....

Matthew Dorian Corbin said...

ever have kinako ice cream?

Orchid64 said...

Hi, M. Dorian, and thanks for reading and your comment!

Yes, I've had kinako ice cream. I've reviews a kinako mochi ice milk bar before.

http://japanesesnackreviews.blogspot.com/2009/03/kinako-mochi-ice-milk-bar.html

Orchid64 said...

Hi, Allie, and thanks for commenting and reading!

You may like this more than me. If you liked the Oshiruko one, this might be quite good by you. However, I just don't like the taste of those mochi puffs! Still, I did finish the bar. I just wouldn't buy another. ;-)

Lane O said...

Hi O-64, I found you via TheImpusilveBuy and enjoy your reviews. I live in Hawaii and the ohagi mochi we have are what you can call inside-out mochi. The inside is a ball of un-mashed mochi rice surrounded by a layer of koshi-an. Haven't come across any coated with kinako though. So simple and so good,

Orchid64 said...

Thanks for the information, Lane-O! Does the thing picture on the KitKat box look like the stuff that Ohagi you see in Hawaii?