KFC and Hello Kitty lunch box set (product information)

Image from KFC Japan.

For New Year's KFC is offering a special stacking lunch box which features an adorable image of a cartoon of the Colonel hugging Hello Kitty. If your idea of lunch time giggles is a cross-species relationship, this is definitely going to be a deal you'll want to partake of. The set includes the food items pictured above (3 fries, 3 pieces of chicken and 3 tenders) for 2,200 yen (about $21 US). It may seem like poor value for a couple of plastic boxes and enough for 3 tiny servings, but those Sanrio licenses don't come cheap.

Mr. Ito Marron (Chestnut) Tart Cookies

A few days after Christmas, I wanted to make the rounds of the three major Japanese markets in my area (Marukai, Nijiya, and Mitsuwa) to see if any of them had their New Year's preparation on. I was very disappointed to see that they had very little in the way of traditional New Year's decorations and the only food options were extremely expensive "o-sechi ryori" deals in which you'd have to pre-order your repast for the holidays. The only exception was over-priced balls of shelf stable kagami mochi and a woman selling roasted chestnuts outside of Mitsuwa several yards from a man roasting those chestnuts.

As my husband and I walked near Mitsuwa, he said he smelled something which he strongly associated with living in Tokyo. It was a burning smell that we both recalled being similar to that which came around tea shops that roasted their own leaves. In this case, we were smelling the roasting of the chestnuts. It resembled burnt coffee.

I've written before that roasting is a bit of a unifying flavor force. One of the reasons that kinako (toasted soy flour) tastes a bit like peanut butter is that both the soybeans and peanuts are roasted. I've learned that things made with chestnut often take on an almost coffee-like flavor because of their roasting as well. When I gave one of these cookies a pre-tasting sniff, the first thing I thought of was coffee with strong caramel notes.

My nose did not lie to me. These have both coffee- and caramel-like notes to them, though there is also some chestnut flavor. The outer tart is crumbly and like a butter cookie. It provides some of the flavor, though in fairly muted margarine and flour flavors. It's not especially sweet, though not really bland. It brings more of a textural contrast and a balancing of the sweeter, softer, and just short of gooey filling. In fact, the filling's sweetness and texture are pretty perfectly complemented by the cookie base. The only thing I could say is "wrong" with it is that it would be nice if the ratios were slightly different. There could be a little less cookie.

That's in no way an indictment. I liked this quite a bit. This cost about $3.00 at Marukai market and I felt it was slightly expensive for 8 small cookies (each is about the diameter of an Oreo). My husband actually had to talk me into spluring on them and I'm glad he did. Though I probably wouldn't dash out and stockpile them, I was happy to buy them and look forward to eating the rest. They aren't exactly a chestnut lover's dream, but they're fine cookies nonetheless and a good shake-up to the holiday parade of gingerbread, pumpkin, and sugar cookies that I experience at this time of year.

Pocky New Year's cards download

Image from Glico.

The folks are Pocky are a little late in the game in promoting this, but I thought I'd put it out there for anyone who is doing 11th hour New Year's cards and would like to use them. Next year will be the year of the horse on the Chinese calendar and Pocky has some pretty nice designs on offer (both of horses and some beautiful traditional Japanese designs -scroll down to the bottom of the page to find those). You can download them here. Of course, even if you don't send New Year's cards, you may want to use these if you're a fan of horses!

To retrieve a card, click the one you like then right-click and choose to save the image from your browser.

Zentis Marzipan Potatoes

There's a very early episode of the Simpsons in which Bart annoys his friend Milhouse so much that he vacates the bus seat they are sharing and runs to the back of the bus to sit with the "weird" German exchange student, Uder. After Milhouse plants himself, Uder offers him some of his strange German candy including "Marzipan Joy Joys (mit Iodine)". Part of the subtle joke here is that those Germans have themselves some weird and unappetizing candy. Hah, hah!

For those who don't know, marzipan is almond paste created from ground almonds and sugar. I like to think of it as the European equivalent of peanut butter treats. I also like to think of it as food of the Gods. The main difference between peanut-butter-based and almond-based candy, besides the obvious differences in flavor is that the fat is a little lower in almonds so the results are less oily and they are slightly more nutritious, but I'm not going to lie. It's not about how "good" for you marzipan is, but something in the texture and taste which I personally love.

I've reviewed a few types of marzipan in the past and spoken of my quest for the "perfect" marzipan. That is, one that is moist, tasty, and not overburdened with too much in the way of pesky chocolate. Well, my friends, I have found my holy grail of marzipan. That does not mean that this is the best marzipan on the planet, but this has a presentation that I prefer. The marzipan balls are dusted with a fine coating of cocoa powder and their flavor profile is otherwise unsullied by chocolate. In fact, you can't really taste the cocoa at all.

Before I get any further, I should say that this is not the finest of the fine. It's 50% almond paste and 50% sugar. Better grade marzipan contains more almond paste and less sugar. That's okay because the sweetness level on this is high, but not insanely high. It's not cloying, and, in my opinion, is at the right level to enhance the richness of the almond paste flavor without being overbearing. These are tiny morsels of joy. Each ball is about the size of my index finger's nail (about double the size of a pea) and about 35 calories. It is a lovely small indulgence.

I found these at Cost Plus World imports for $9.99, though I got it on sale for $6.66. Zentis's web site asserts that these are a winter special, so I'm guessing they can't be purchased year round. Frankly, I picked these up as a holiday treat for myself, but I would love to have them available year round. The only down side to them is that it is a large quantity and, because they are not sealed in a chocolate coating, they start to dry out. This is particularly an issue if you eat them conservatively (I eat one a day, occasionally two) and don't move them from the large flimsy plastic container that they come in to incrementally smaller ones as the quantity drops. As more air forms around them, they dry out more.

Even dry, these are still lovely to have, though they are obviously best when fresh and still moist. I love these to pieces. They are pretty much all I wanted since I started sampling various sorts of marzipan. That doesn't mean that I won't try other types. Perish the thought! It simply means that this is the new standard by which all others will be judged.

Baskin Robbins Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar Ice Cream (product information)

Strawberry Berrishima - Image courtesy of Baskin Robbins

I've read several food blogs for many years and I'm familiar with all of the foodie fads like adding balsamic vinegar to everything from salad dressing to fruit to your dog's organic doggie biscuits which you lovely crafted with your own two hands and baked into little heart and bone shapes. Foodies love them some balsamic vinegar.

Personally, I hate it. I have tried it and the things it is mixed with several times and there is a wine/vinegar combination flavor that just does not work for me. Frankly, it reminds me of blood. I can't say why it tastes like blood, and yes, from being a very young child and licking blood off of a wound before I knew better, I do remember what it tasted like. Yes, I know that sounds gross, but I wasn't the only child who did that. At any rate, I hate balsamic vinegar, though I actually really like other types of vinegar.

Baskin Robbins is playing to the types of people who were so disgusting as to lick the droplets of blood off of their scrapes and cuts when they were in first grade. If you think mascerating your strawberries with balsamic vinegar is the bee's knees, then this combo of mascarpone cheese ice cream with rippons of strawberry and said vinegar is for you.