Kanmi Oribean Custard Purin Daifuku

One of my former classmates, in response to a comment I made on FaceBook, offered to send me some wicked sugary delights in the form of a Cadbury Creme egg. Yes, my fat cells are already expanding in anticipation and my pancreas is nervous. I haven't had one of those sugar bombs for at least 15 years and I wonder if my tastes may have changed such that its poisonous center will be an assault to my taste buds after all these years. Mind you, I'm not exactly dreading the challenge.

As a way of returning the favor, I offered to send him some Japanese snacks. His response was that he's worked with Japanese companies a lot and really prefer not to be subjected to more than he's already experienced. I had to smile at this response. That used to be me some 20-odd years ago, trolling the shops for things which looked like things back home rather than adventurously sampling the weirdness of all gustatory things Japanese.

Now, even the "weird" seems mundane and appealing to me. Take these small balls of mochi (pounded rice cake) encasing a bizarre-looking center of caramel whipped cream and goo. Finding these was a delight for me, not a moment to dread. I've come to really love daifuku and all the more when it's in a flavor my husband will also enjoy.

Each little blob of soft slightly chewy mochi is slightly bigger than the diameter of a 100-yen coin or quarter. The cutaway picture on the bag shows this attractive little bit of filling pooching out, but the real thing is far less pretty. Frankly, it looks like an infected wound, but don't let the way it appears inside color your judgment. This is delicious. The texture is a great combination of chewy with soft creaminess. This is well-coupled with the combination of the bland pounded rice flavor and sweet caramel center. I thought the center was rather potent, like the caramel sauce on top of flan, but my husband said he would have liked it even stronger.

This was very tasty. It wasn't as good as a fresh daifuku or even some of the larger ones I've bought as souvenirs, but it's definitely more accessible and cheaper. I found this at Seiyu supermarket for 168 yen ($2.07). There are about 8 or 10 individually wrapped pieces (at 43 calories each) in the bag so it's good value. Unless you're really sensitive about fake caramel flavor, I'd suggest giving these a try. I really enjoyed them.