Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Kameda Seika Yakibuta (Roast Pork) Snack


I've been having problems finding new and interesting sembei at the market. There's a ton of new stuff around, but none of it really seems truly new. There's still the remaining dribble of the wasabi-flavored sembei fad. There are also nori and soy flavors, and black bean varieties. I've had the last two before, and they were fine, but I was looking for something new and more interesting.

I figured that Family Mart convenience store always has something interesting on hand, and the two appealing options (both from Kameda Seika) were umeboshi (sour pickled plum) and roast pork. I was in the mood for something more savory and less likely to make me pucker, so I bought the pork sembei snack for 105 yen (about a dollar).


These smell like a mixture of pork and soy sauce and a sweet smell which is difficult to pin down. Each component carries a different element of the roast pork. The puffs taste like Kix cereal, if Kix puffs were sweeter, tasted nutty, and carried a hint of bacon. The flat chips resemble spicy, very well-cooked bacon with added soy sauce. In fact, the flat chips by themselves are great and I could have done without the sweet puffs. That being said, when you eat them together, you do have an approximation of a glazed roast pork with a bit of hot red pepper tossed in.

These were on the borderline between indifferent and happy ratings. It's not that I didn't like them or happily consume all 178 calories of the 42 gram (1.5 oz.) bag all at one time. I just found the sweetness too much. If Kameda Seika sold a bag of only the spicy, flat bacon-flavored chips, I'd likely have given this a very happy rating rather than a grudging "happy" rating.

4 comments:

Par said...

I like the look of the roast pork on the package. The snacks looks a little plain. Though it's still a snack I have not see before.

Anonymous said...

It sounds so interesting, the flavor... the sweetness reminds me of Cheetos (or scones) they have the cheese version but it is more sweet than cheddar... have you tried them?

xo
April

Orchid64 said...

Ms.K: It looks plain, but it has plenty of flavor! I recommend giving them a try if you're a fan of bacon or pork snacks. :-)

April: I don't think I've seen the cheese version that you mention, or perhaps I have been didn't buy it because I feel I've done more cheese snacks and figured I should go for something more "exotic". I'll keep an eye out for them!

Thanks to both of you for reading and commenting!

Anonymous said...

I think the roast pork that shows on the package would be the chinese charsiew!