Friday, May 20, 2011

Market O Real Brownie


I've been seeing big boxes of these "Market O Real Brownies" at Costco for quite some time. One of my students even bought a case of them while she was there and only later realized that as a petite single woman, she might be eating them for the next two years. I wasn't going to gamble on a big box of an untested baked item, no matter how grandiose it's claim is about producing a "real" brownie. Brownies are very difficult to get right even when fresh, and it's that much harder when they're packaged to be shelf stable.

Because I have the chance to buy these slightly cheaply at Costco, I jumped at the chance to buy just one 35-gram (1.2 oz.) serving for 120 yen ($1.35) at 7-11. Note that though these are being heavily marketed in Japan, they are produced in Korea. The scribbly characters on the front of the package are Korean, not Japanese, but all of the information on the back of the package is in Japanese (not a sticker over a Korean label, but originally done in Japanese). So, we have a Korean brownie with Japanese packaging and clip art depicting a Western woman and her kid around 1950. These are cross-cultural brownies.


The brownie is nicely chocolatey, but quite sweet. It has a strange aftertaste that may be associated with preservatives. It tastes like a chalky version of actual chocolate as opposed to an actual brownie. It's lacking in that quintessential "baked" flavor of a brownie. The small brownie has 173 calories, which is pretty dense for such a relatively small morsel, but not out of line for something made with butter and sugar.

I can certainly make a much better brownie than this, but that's not really the question. The question is whether or not this would satisfy you if you wanted a brownie in Tokyo and couldn't or didn't want to make your own. The answer is that "it might". It really depends on where you place the bar for your brownies and how you like them. This is dense and somewhat rich without being very fudgey or moist. It's certainly better than most of the brownies you can buy in bakeries in Japan, which tend to be closer to dry cake than an actual brownie. In fact, compared to a standard bakery brownie, this is actually quite good. It just doesn't come close to a homemade brownie or one made from a Western-made mix, but if I was jonesing for a brownie to accompany a cup of coffee, I'd choose this over any of the other available convenient options. I wouldn't buy a case of them, but I'd pick up another single brownie if I was in the right mood.

7 comments:

Ikkin-bot said...

I love cross cultural packaging! I'm pretty sure it saying something important about how people buy things and relate to each other . . . I'm just not overly sure how yet.

Ra said...

I've been reading this blog for quite some time, after I came to know about it through your other blog - 1000 things about japan. What can I say, every time i want to relax in office, i just open this blog... ah, delicious! :) I'm crazy about virtually all kinds of snacks, and it's heaven here. Wish there were these many varities over here in India. I've occassionally thought about writing a blog on indian snacks, after reading this... but nah... :(

Anonymous said...

I am swooning over the packaging... while day dreaming about "mad men"...

I have not seen this yet, but the worst brownie I had here in Japan was some spin off topic at 31 flavours... it was dry and...well blech...

I don't think I've had a proper brownie in more than 13 years!!!

Anonymous said...

crap.. I meant toppings instead of topic.... I'm a dork!

changtae said...

It has no preservatives.
(only alcohol spray)
From Manufacturer.
Patrick Kim
4wind@korea.com

Choco_Berry said...

i dont know why you guys don't like these but as a coffee lover (yes, it has coffee in it) and browine hater (yes, i hate most brownies) i love this "baked" flavor brownie. when i went over to south korea, i bought a luggage full of them and now i only have 2 boxes left. im just sad that i didnt buy another luggage full.. sigh..

Unknown said...

These brownies are almost sold out in Hong Kong, dunno why they charge so much in america tho, cuz in Hong Kong...wait a sec *goes to currency site online* they charge about 2.548 for a pack of 4 brownies and in America they charge$1.35 for 1 ?!!