Kuchidoke Cacao KitKat (mini)

"Kuchi" in Japanese means "mouth" and "doke" means melt, so this is a "melt in your mouth chocolate" KitKat. I'm not sure if that is meant to conjure up the idea that you'll have a mouth full of the rich chocolate sauce on the box or if this is part of what seems to be a winter fad in Japan right now for fondue. I noticed when I was shopping around Christmas time that fondue sets (and marshmallows) seemed to be on offer everywhere. In fact, there was a woman melting Ghana bars at the entrance of one of the tonier supermarkets about a week before Christmas and offering up samples.


This variety has been on offer for quite awhile, and I've been avoiding it because it is a little expensive for a relatively small amount. A box of 5 mini bars costs 189 yen ($2.06) at Seiyu. The total amount of candy is about 1.25 KitKats (about 5 regular fingers) in my rough estimation. Since a regular KitKat costs about 100 yen ($1.09), this makes this 50% more expensive than a regular bar. Of course, it is a special variety, so one has to expect a little increase in price, but I'm a cheapskate. The truth is that my husband picked this up not knowing that I was waiting for it to end up in the bargain bin, and he plunked it on my desk.

The description on the back says that the exterior coating is "melt in your mouth chocolate" and between the wafers is croquant. I hadn't heard of croquant before, but it is a French confection made up of carmelized sugar that does not include butter or cream. It is usually just water and sugar and one of its uses is to make a type of nut brittle (particularly with almonds).


Each mini bar is individually wrapped, has 70 calories, and smells nicely of chocolate. The cocoa scent is definitely stronger than the chocolate on a normal KitKat. The flavor is also richer and deeper. It's a little like a really strong hot chocolate, but with no bitter notes. Despite being called a "melt in your mouth cocoa" bar, it isn't softer than a normal KitKat and doesn't actually melt in your mouth. That's okay though. It's still one tasty version of a KitKat and I wish that regular bars were flavored like this one. I didn't detect the croquant portion, but my husband said that he detected something a bit malt-like when he sampled it. It could be that the flavor is very subtle and I just missed it.

Though this isn't a strongly divergent variation on the regular KitKat, it is a superior quality one in terms of the deep chocolate flavor. I would definitely recommend giving it a try and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again.

This was also (very favorably) reviewed at Jen's KitKat blog.

Contest: Win the Japanese KitKat Gokaku Mug!

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I'd like to promote this blog and gain more readers. To that end, I'm going to run a contest offering the KitKat mug package as a prize.

If you'd like to win the mug and KitKat, here is what you need to do:

1. Write up something on your blog, web site or Twitter account about this contest (or my blog, or both).
   
2. E-mail me at orchidsixtyfour@gmail.com with a link to your write-up or tweet so that I can see what you've said.*
   

I will be choosing the winner based solely on my whims. Mainly, I'll be looking for something which demonstrates some wit in a way which I think might compel readers to come and read my blog after reading what you have said. I'm not looking for begging, boot-licking, or gushing, but obviously a post which is positive in nature is going to increase your chances of winning as a negative post isn't likely to drive readers my way.

You could be drinking out of a five-sided cup. You could even give it to two girls to drink out of if you were so inclined.

This contest is open to anyone who e-mails me a link to appropriate content which they have personally composed except those living in South America or Africa. I'm sorry to say that the postal service between Japan and those countries is unreliable and I cannot trust that any package sent from here to those countries will arrive.

The contest will end on January 16 and the winner will be announced on January 18 in the "Variety Friday" post that follows.

Thanks to everyone for reading my blog. If this contest is a success, you can expect to see more of them in the future with a chance at winning more Japanese snack goodies!


*If you don't want to e-mail, you can leave a link in comments, but I won't be publishing any links until the contest is over so your comment will not be seen by anyone but me. Please don't worry if you don't see your comment published. Also, I have lost comments in the moderation process before so e-mail is almost certainly going to be more reliable to enter the contest.

Variety Friday: Gokaku Mug KitKat

On December 21, Nestle released this package deal of a KitKat, packet of instant Nescafe Excella coffee and a 5-sided red mug as part of their "support the students" campaign. Like the Milk Coffee KitKat, this carries the symbols and cherry blossom motif for all items marketed as gifts meant to encourage students to do well on their entrance examinations.


The mug has 5 sides and I believe that the Chinese characters (kanji) are a play on words that represent luck. This is why the mug is five-sided. The mug is the size of an average coffee cup and not some dinky affair. It's definitely built for use rather than novelty if you set aside the unusual shape. It's also quite solid and thick.

The combination of the full-size regular KitKat, single serving packet of instant coffee, and mug is only 200 yen ($2.18). This represents quite excellent value because the KitKat itself sells for 100 yen and most plain coffee cups (of smaller size, but similar quality) are about 100 yen as well. My guess is that Nestle Japan regards these more as promotional tools than as a premium money maker. I guess having a bunch of tired students who have been studying a lot drinking out of a KitKat and Nescafe mug that might inspire them to seek a sugar and caffeine rush seems like a pretty good idea.

Happy Year of the Tiger!

Happy New Year to all of my readers and thank you for following my blog!

Japan follows the Chinese convention of seeing each year as the year of an animal. This year is the year of the tiger, so you can get tiger figures everywhere. The item pictured above is a traditional New Year's mochi (pounded rice cake) decoration with the little plastic tiger on top instead of the traditional mikan (Japanese tangerine). I picked this up at 7-11 for about $4. Note that you can get similar mochi for about $1 at most convenience stores. I doubt there is a qualitative difference in the texture or taste of the mochi. I was mainly paying for the tiger.

Many Japanese families have freshly made mochi as part of their display, but I've been told that when they use the fresh stuff, it sometimes starts to grow mold before it is eaten and the mold has to be cut away before they can consume the remaining mochi. I'm not sure how I'm going to prepare or consume this mochi, but I'll give it a go.

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable new year. :-)

Fujiya Sweets Torte Mille-Fueille Chocolate

Part of me wonders if I should reject sweets that try and imitate foophy (I made that word up) French pastries like mille-fueille. Then I remember that I like such things and just abandon all pretext at rejecting class consciousness when it comes to food and buy the damn chocolate. Besides, how foophy can something be if it is sold in a supermarket for 150 yen (about $1.45)?


The dessert these chocolates are trying to imitate is made up of layers of pastry and pastry cream topped with chocolate. There are supposed to be many different types of mille-fueille, but the most common appears to be the type I just described. You often see this type of pastry on sale in Japanese cake shops, though they look far less decadent than the ones pictured on the Wikipedia page that I've linked to or the one shown on the front of this box of chocolates.

(the color has been lightened to show the texture on the chocolate)

There were actually several new chocolates of interest on display when I bought these, but this one won because my husband said it was the one he was most interested in sharing with me. I always prefer to reduce the calories I might consume by hoping to fob some off on him. These aren't too bad for you though at 41 calories apiece. Each is about the size of a quarter (or 100 yen coin) and about a centimeter tall.


To imitate the multiple flavors of the mille-fueille pastry, there are three parts to this chocolate. First, there is a bittersweet chocolate shell (which detaches easily from the next layer). Then there is a "custard" chocolate shell and finally some crispy "pie" center. The pie center actually tastes like puff pastry and the bittersweet chocolate is very high quality and offsets the sweetness of the custard layer well. If a complaint can be made, I'd say it's that the custard flavor is very weak because the bittersweet chocolate is so strong. Nonetheless, you do get a hint of the custard taste as well.

I really enjoyed this and felt it was a high quality consumer level product. I'm not even a fan of bittersweet chocolate, but it somehow all came together for me in this sweet. I'd definitely recommend sampling this, and wouldn't mind having these on hand for something which has the texture of a wafer, but a bit more interesting taste profile.