Random Picture #122

One of my favorite snacks in Japan was chinsukou cookies. For quite some time, they tended to be the sort of thing that you were given as a gift rather than found in shops and bought for yourself. However, during the last several years that I was in Japan, they became increasingly easier to find. I'm sure that a big part of this was that Okinawan cuisine, which has always been recognized as being specialized, was becoming more and more popular all over Japan. When I had left, I believe it's popularity had not yet peaked. If you don't want to go back and read the linked review, I'll mention that these are a type of sugar cookie made with lard which resemble shortbread crossed with a classic Christmas sugar cookie.

While I first experienced these as a souvenir from a student who visited Okinawa, later, I found small bags of them for sale in Natural Lawson's convenience stores. Later, I found this big family pack on offer at a discount shop above a local supermarket. You know something has gone mainstream when it is sold in bulk at no-name shops. The flavors for sale here are plain, black (brown) sugar, and sweet potato. I tried many flavors (chocolate, chocolate chip, salty plain, pineapple, sweet potato, pumpkin and more!) of these when I was in Japan, and always like the plain ones best. The others were good, but there was something about the pure and simple taste of the plain one that worked.

If you're in Japan or an import store, you don't have to read Japanese to know these. They are always in this shape and size so they can be easily recognized. Sometimes they are sold individually in large bins filled with tiny cookies at Okinawan food fairs and you can cherry pick a variety of flavors for about 20 yen (about 24 cents) per cookie. Though they aren't the healthiest treat in the world (hello, saturated animal fats), an occasional one in the interests of sampling regional cuisine isn't likely to harden your arteries into rocks.

Chinsukou (ちんすこう) Cookies

a packet of 6 chinsukou cookies (three two-packs)

My husband and I have received this particular brand of cookie twice as souvenir gifts from Japanese folks. The first time, we received a large box of them and this time a somewhat smaller packet. In both cases, the cookies were wrapped inside of their larger packaging in two-packs. We did our best to savor these wonderful cookies and make them last awhile. They are little white sweet blocks of cookie heaven.

a big box of these delectable biscuits

There are a wide variety of confectioners who make these types of biscuits. These ones were made by Nanpudo and can be ordered on their site, though they are generally purchased as a souvenir from Okinawa (as they are a specialty of that area). Several of the makers of chinsukou have ships as part of their logo or the cookie packaging. This is a common icon because the word chinsukou is related to the Yangtze River in China. It's not exactly clear, but there is a relationship between sinking snow and salt and the Yangtze which have something to do with the story behind these cookies. Fortunately, the cookies taste nothing of snow, salt or the Yangtze river.


These cookies is that they are a good example of how some similar food concepts develop independently of one another. These are mainly made of lard, flour, and sugar and are very much like a shortbread cookie you might buy in the U.K. These are a bit more sugary than conventional shortbread and this particular variety also has a wonderful vanilla flavor which is pronounced but not overwhelming. In fact, the taste is likened to vanilla ice cream by the marketers who sell these cookies.

When you sniff the cookies, they smell like fresh Christmas sugar cookies. The smell is very familiar and not at all foreign to those of us who grew up outside of Japan. They are dense, but crumbly. They have coarse bits of sugar in them which add to both the texture and taste. They start off mildly sweet and floury and get a bit sweeter (in a good way) as you nibble away.

As I've mentioned before when writing about snacks sold mainly as souvenirs, there is no calorie information, but I'm guessing these are very evil on that front given the main ingredients. That being said, the cookies are very small and the two-packs encourage portion control.

If you're in Okinawa and are looking for a souvenir to take back home, by all means buy these. I can't imagine anyone would find these anything but a delight unless they had some crazy aversion to nutritionally suspect food. Pick yourself up a box (or two) to have with tea or coffee as well if you have the self-control not to eat yourself sick. They are just that good.