The role that Japanese KitKats play in my life can be seen by looking at my bookmarks. Nestle Japan's KitKat page is the only manufacturer's web site that is bookmarked, and it's also so frequently accessed that I don't even keep it in a folder. For quick emergency KitKat access, I have to be able to select it from the drop-down menu at a moment's notice. Clearly, Japanese KitKats are far too important to my life and perhaps I should seek some sort of mental health assistance. That being said, if I need some medication, Jen at Jen's KitKat blog needs to be committed. ;-)
My husband picked this bar up at a Family Mart convenience store in Shinjuku and delivered it to my desk. The flavor is based on a form of flan or custard with a type of burnt sugar sauce that is popular in Japan called "purin". The flavor of this big bar mainly carries the caramel notes of the sauce, but also has a little of the sweetness and vanilla flavor of the pudding. Most of the flavor comes through as being sweeter than normal, but it a sugary, grainy way rather than in a throat-burning way. This is actually pretty common in these types of big KitKat bars.
This is my third big KitKat bar and all of the ones with a milk chocolate coating have had similar good points. They have fresh, crispy wafers in abundance and a flavorful chocolate coating which is enhanced just a little by the featured flavor. This one was no different, though I'm not sure I'd want to eat the whole bar at once. It's not only that it's 239 calories, but also that I wonder if the sweetness might be cumulatively too much if it is all eaten at once. In my case, I ate a quarter of it for sampling then stopped at that. I'll have more later if my husband doesn't get to it first.
8 comments:
*drool*
I'll be sending my husband out on a hunt for one of these as soon as the kids are in bed!
OH My freak'n gosh.... I swear, I swear you and your darling hubs stumble upon the most unique kit-kats...
I would have never imagined a "Purin" version.... okay.. well, I'm still waiting for the Ume version.. has Kit Kat covered that flavor yet?
I dare them to do a Nato version... but I love nato...
Those look delicious...
I lovee Kit Kats so I wouldn't mind trying all the cool flavors asia provides xD Thanks for the revieww
ugggggg - i want! that loooooooksss soooo good!
It's true, I probably should be committed. ;-) I try not to think about what I've spent on Kit Kats in the last nine months since I started blogging.
I haven't seen this one around yet. It amazes me how many are out there that aren't on the website. I have tried the purin minis so I imagine they taste the same despite the difference in size.
And I found the Calpis Kit Kats! They are on the menu this week right behind Corn and Cantaloupe from Hokkaido.
Thanks to everyone for commenting! I appreciate it!
Jen: This is actually rather different from the purin minis (which I liked as well). The purin flavor isn't quite as pronounced and the texture and grain are different. If you can find this, I recommend it! And, I also thought it was weird that it wasn't on the web site.
I'll be looking forward to your Calpis mini review! :-)
I always thought the name "purin" comes from the German word for custard / flan (the thing shown on the kit-kat packaging): Pudding.
Probably so, anonymous. That's why I said, in the review, "the flavor is based on a form of flan or custard with a type of burnt sugar sauce that is popular in Japan called "purin".
It says in Wikipedia that the word is probably from an old German word, "flado", but I don't speak German so I can't speak to the origin of the word, nor do I know the history of the linguistics behind the word "purin" in Japan. I only know that the Japanese call all types of pudding "purin" when speaking of these types of desserts in general whether they are vanilla, chocolate, etc.
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