Random Picture #190

Some time back, I reviewed the liquid version of one of the three candies pictured above. These three flavors are super pickled plum (umeboshi), super soda (ramune - like lemon lime usually) and, rather obviously, super lemon. On the first bag, the caption is, "Ah, suppai," which means "sour". It can also  mean "acidic" but umeboshi are quite sour. 

The interesting thing about these intense candies is that the brand given here is "Nobel". The liquid version, which is clearly the same brand as the graphics are identical, was made by Japan Tobacco. I'm guessing JT licensed the flavor for a beverage because Nobel (or "J-bel" as it sometimes calls itself) has been making candy under that name since 1949. 

One interesting thing about the web page for all of Nobel's hard candies is that they have little descriptions under them and one or the other is highlighted to tell consumers what sort of product it is. The options are "basic", "healthy", "handy", and "fashion & casual". These candies are all listed as "basic". It strikes me as a way of marketing which essentially says, "this is our boring" candy, and a very strange way to promote a product. I'm guessing this is one of those cultural differences that I haven't figured out yet.

Nittou Relay Plum Kombu Soup/Tea with Red Pepper

Sorry for the big label residue. There was an English label that was stubborn about being torn off.

There's an old SNL commercial spoof in which a couple argue over whether or not a product, Shimmer, is a floor wax or a dessert topping. Someone appears to be similarly confused about this packet of powdered foodstuff. It's referred to both as a soup and as a tea. The manufacturer's press information says that it has ume (plum) tea to refresh, but the package calls it "soup".

This actually raises a question that I've had come up recently in another context. It's the sort of question that only someone who reviews food for fun (not really "for a living", as the only living I could make would be sleeping over sewer grates and begging for pennies in front of Peet's Coffee based on my blogging income). That question is, "what makes "tea" tea?" This comes up because I have been sampling Numi's savory tea for review and those flavors include tomato mint, carrot curry, and broccoli cilantro. The Numi includes actual tea leaves as well as dehydrated vegetables, and, it's frankly, dreadful, but clearly there is no doubt that it can call itself a "tea". It may be horrible to drink, but there's no identity crisis to complicate the discussion.

This product is different because it includes no actual tea leaves. It has powdered kelp, red pepper, salt, sugar, plum, labiate leaf, MSG, citric acid, and labiate flavor. Techically, I guess this is a tisane, but it's not like we call anything which does not include tea leaves a tisane. Much herbal tea does not contain tea leaves, but nobody will call it anything but "tea".

So, semantics aside, let's get to this product. And, incidentally, it's actually soup, not tea of any sort. It looks like a soup, tastes like a soup, and has the savory properties of soup (Numi savory tea be damned!). What is more, it's a very tasty, low calorie soup which I wish I could pick up regularly at any old American market. 

The preparation method is to take 1/2 cup of hot water and then stir the powder into it. This produces something like looks like water from your fish tank that has not been cleaned for far too long. After stirring, the cloudy bits of kombu (kelp) move around the glass like a murky lava lamp. Mind you, I generally don't make my soup in a clear drinking glass, but did so to get a picture for my readers. I wouldn't recommend doing this in anything which doesn't have a handle unless you want to burn your fingers.

The soup mainly smells like the plum. When I say "plum", don't think of American sweet plums, but Japanese umeboshi (pickled plum). It lends a piquant acidic flavor that is the first thing that hits your tongue when you taste the soup. This is quickly followed up by the red pepper, which is just hot enough to add spice and heat the back of your throat, but not burn a hole through your tongue. The balance of these two major elements is perfect. I couldn't taste the kelp at all. I'm sure it was there adding flavor depth to a limited extent, but it was pretty overwhelmed by the plum, pepper, and salt. In fact, salt is the first ingredient.

For the serving size, this is pretty salty, unsurprisingly. A 2-gram packet provides 360 mg. of sodium. Even though sugar is an ingredient (the second one), this is listed as having zero calories. I'm guessing it's one of those deals where there are few enough calories per serving that they don't have to measure them. If you're on a diet which allows lots of salt, this makes for a pretty handy option when you're craving salty food or, as the package suggests, might want to spice up your pasta or rice. You can stir a packet into pasta or dump the soup over rice for a tasty variation.

I bought this at Daiso Japan for $1.50. There are 7 packets so that's a pretty reasonable price per serving. I would warn anyone who decides to try this not only that it is salty, but also spicy in a way which may not suit just everyone. If you're a fan of umeboshi and don't mind a little heat though, I think this is absolutely worth a try.

Umeboshi (Pickled Plum) Potato Sticks

When I was a kid, I didn't care much for pickles, but I did like to drink small amounts of the pickling juice from the far as it emptied of cucumbers. I like to think that the ability to consume something so intensely salty and sour at a young age paved the way for me to enjoy umeboshi when I got to Japan. Umeboshi are tiny little pickled plums that are often placed atop the rice portion of a bento (box lunch). You also see them set out on tables in little covered dishes at restaurants for patrons to partake of with various dishes. They're small, wrinkled little fruits which look like a red raisin that has bloated up to about ten times its normal size.


Since umeboshi are so sour, Japanese people delight in asking foreign folks residing in Japan if they can stomach them. It comes in third place in the "can you eat it" game. For the record, natto (fermented soybeans) is number one on the list and sushi is two. I can eat them straight with no problem, but I think many people find them too intense to eat even as an accompaniment to other foods.

Enter these processed potato sticks by Calbee. They are advertised as tasting "faintly" or lightly of umeboshi. These snacks don't smell much at all like anything other than fried potato snack, but not in terms of smelling much like chips. They smell like generic processed fried food with a vague hint of vinegar if you stick it right up to your nose and inhale deeply (the things I do for these reviews). I don't think umeboshi carry much of their own smell, so not much can be expected on that front.

The sticks are super crunchy and lightly salted. They taste mostly like potato, but there is a slightly sour finishing taste. Even though there are little flecks of plum in them, the taste is very subdued. These are clearly designed for umeboshi sissies who can't take much strong flavor. Since I like the intense sourness and saltiness of umeboshi, they seemed about a half step removed from plain Calbee sticks to me.

These weren't bad, but I wouldn't buy them again. The main reason for that is that these are fairly densely caloric at 287 calories for 58 grams (2 oz.) and I don't especially prefer slightly greasy straws of processed potato to chips or rice crackers. I'd go for something with more flavor or with less processing. However, if you want to dip a wary toe into the waters of umeboshi consumption, these may not be the worst place to start.