German Potato Gourmet Doritos

I can't speak for everywhere else in the world, but German potatoes are not a standard dish in any eating establishment I ever visited in America. They are, however, a standard offering in bars and restaurants where there is an emphasis on alcohol. Early in my stay in Japan, when I was working at Nova conversation school and socializing once a week or more with coworkers, we used to go to bars or restaurants which offered such fare.

During one of these social gatherings, German potatoes were the center of one of my more awkward and memorable social situations in Japan. My husband had ordered a small plate of "German potato", not knowing at the time what it was, but deciding to brave it even with a pretty steep price tag (about $3 for a very small side dish). He was given a very small, sizzling plate of nicely browned, greasy potatoes with bits of onion and bacon. He loved it and a female coworker of mine wanted a bite to see if she'd like it enough to get it, too. As it turned out, she liked it so much that she kept eating his ever diminishing portion. After she'd taken three bites (closing in on eating half), he commented that he wasn't going to have enough if she kept it up. She said that she felt as if her hand had just been slapped away and she was quite flummoxed because of it.

At the time, I wanted to crawl under the table because I wished my husband had just ordered another plate of potatoes rather than say something to her. In retrospect though, I think my friend should have just ordered her own potatoes. I also think that it was inappropriate of her to make it seem as though my husband were responsible for the tension that resulted from her eating his food rather than her taking responsibility for her bad manners.


I think German potatoes are offered in places with a lot of beer drinking because they are greasy and fatty and help people not get as drunk (or hungover). With the memory of that tasty bar food in mind, my husband picked up a bag of these gourmet Doritos at a local 99 yen shop and I was along for the ride. Of course, he only associates German potatoes with fatty goodness, not social embarrassment since he long ago forgot about the aforementioned incident.

These Doritos come in an 80 gram (2.8 oz.) bag and, if you can eat nearly 3 oz. of chips at one go, you'll consume nearly 400 calories. Though they don't contain any actual potato, as they are still corn chips, they are flavored with potato, bacon, and onion. The smell is distinctly ham-like. The amazing thing about these is that they really do taste very much like the German potatoes you get in bars in Japan. They even have that buttery, nicely browned potato flavor along with pork and onion. The only difference is the crispy texture and the corn chip flavor which hits you as you finish the chip.

This is a very good Dorito, but it is still a Dorito. If you like German potatoes, this should hit the spot nicely. My husband really liked these and I thought they were good as well, though I probably won't buy them again because of the unpleasant memories they dredge up of social awkwardness. ;-)

(Seriously, I'd buy them again if I were in the mood.)

Fuwa Fuwa Marshmallow Cake

This is actually the third or fourth one of these marshmallow treats that I've purchased. Every time I get one, I eat it before I can get around to reviewing it and taking pictures. The only reason this review is going out is that I bought two and the second one was earmarked for my husband.

These are called "cakes" but they're really just incredibly soft high-quality marshmallows with a filling. I've only ever seen them for sale in big name convenience stores like 7-11 and Family Mart. One is about the size of an egg and costs 53 yen (about 55 cents). There are a plethora of varieties of these out there, but it's hard to find them. In my Internet searches, I've seen strawberry and jam, and my husband has found lemon and caramel (which will be reviewed later). I've never seen them personally, but you can also buy boxes of 10 for 500 yen.


This particular version, which I've always assumed was the basic variety that the company started with, is filled with white bean jam. The taste is very hard to describe, but the beans don't have as strong a flavor as red bean jam (anko). There's a sense of vanilla and butter in these, but mainly they are a sweet, textural delight. The marshmallow is soft, but not chewy in the way that American ones can be. And it's not rubbery in the way that Japanese ones can be. These are unusual because they are made with gelatin instead of agar agar (a derivative of seaweed which is often used instead of gelatin in Japan). The bean filling adds a slightly grainy texture as well as flavor.

I couldn't find a manufacturer's web page for these (and there's no nutrition information on the package so I can't give calorie information), but searches turned up a ton of blog reviews and favorable mentions. Some people were unhappy about the price because it costs almost half of the price of an entire bag of regular marshmallows. I think the quality though makes it well worth it. This is like a gourmet marshmallow and I definitely recommend sampling it if you see one in a box by the check-out counter in a convenience store.

Rincle Petit Cone Ice

If the the Keebler elves were to buy a box of ice cream cones to keep around in their freezers for those days when they had a hankering for ice cream (though really, with all of those Keebler cookies, they don't need more sweets), Rincle cones would certainly fit the bill. I wonder if Glico designed these for diet-conscious adults or small children whose parents grudgingly give them sweet summer treats. Since this is classified as a "family pack" on Glico's site, I'm guessing it is for kids. One thing is for sure, at about about 10 cm (4") in length and 3 cm (1.2") in diameter, they aren't for those with big appetites.

I found these mini cones at a local supermarket and was drawn to the fact that each flavor has 50 calories or less per cone. I knew even before I opened up the box that they were going to be small. The only question was going to be how small. Note that they have been explicitly designed to be fancy-looking and to mimic the sort of ornate cone you might get at some tony ice cream parlor. The appearance of the cones was definitely a priority when Glico designed them as it is mentioned in their PR for this product.

The flavors included are strawberry, mango and double chocolate and vanilla, and double chocolate and cookie. There are 16 cones, 4 of each flavor, in one box and they cost about 200 yen (about $2), depending on whether or not you can find them on sale. Each cone is wrapped in a paper wrapper which is a little hard to remove despite a handy tab. This is because the paper is lined with plastic which stretches. When you pull on the tab, the paper only pulls off around the center and you're stuck trying to open the top. I'm guessing they lined the paper with plastic to try and stop the cones from getting stale or soggy. Frankly, this did not work. When I first bought this box, the cones were moderately crispy, but by the time I got through with half of them, they were on the softer side.

The ice milk is creamy and has a very satisfying texture. The cones, likewise, are not bad, though they don't have much in the way of flavor. They're shaped like waffle cones, but are actually fairly good quality cake cones. Each cone probably has between 2 and 3 tablespoons of ice milk in it. There's so little ice milk at the top of the cone that you'd be hard-pressed to just lick it. If you're lucky, the small blob won't dislodge on the first lick, but really the best you can hope for is to not gobble the ice milk on top in one bite.

Here are my impressions of each flavor:

mango:


The mango portion of this is really just a few little decorative dabs at the top. The rest is good, creamy and satisfyingly sweet vanilla. If you want a strong mango experience, you'll want to give this a pass, but it's certainly quite good as a vanilla cone. This cone was 40 calories.

double chocolate with cookie:


The chocolate portion is pretty much confined to the dabs on top. I couldn't detect the cookie part much at all, though it does add a grainy textural component. You can taste the chocolate a bit, but it's pretty weak. The cone has a bit of chocolate in it as well, but it's so subdued that it barely registered. At 48 calories, this cone is the most fattening of the bunch. It's also the sweetest and my least favorite.

strawberry:


I have to be honest and say that I'm not a fan of strawberry ice cream, but this was good. The strawberry flavor wasn't too intense or fake. My husband, who does like strawberry ice cream, enjoyed this quite a lot. It's also the low calorie winner of the bunch at 38 calories.

vanilla & double chocolate:


This one had the same cone as the cookie one, and the highest amount of chocolate. The top is a nice bittersweet crispy bit and the chocolate ice cream is flavorful and nicely sweet. It was my favorite of the bunch, but there are really no losers. It is 43 calories. Incidentally, I have no idea why this is called "vanilla & double chocolate" since there is nothing vanilla in it. It was also labeled as the "cookie" cone. I think someone just made mistakes on the labels and swapped them in some cases.

Depending on what kind of eater you are and how fussy you are about ice cream rather than ice milk, this is either a wonderful package of portion-controlled ice cream cones, or too little on the portion front. For me, this was great because I tend to want something sweet after a meal, but hate the idea of having a full dessert to satisfy that craving. Since the quality of the ice milk is so good and the sweetness level just about perfect, I was really pleased with these despite the tiny amounts. I'd recommend these for people who occasionally want a few spoonfuls of ice cream, but not for those who aren't satisfied with anything less than a full scoop when they get an ice cream (or in this case, ice milk) craving.

I should also note that the last two cones sat in my freezer for over a month before I got to them and there was quality degradation. The ice cream seemed to have seen a little crystallization from the freezer door being opened and closed and the cones got quite soft. I'd recommend finishing them off quickly, or putting them near the back of the freezer in a freezer quality Ziploc bag to protect them from temperature fluctuations and going stale. Clearly, the paper wrappers aren't going to do enough to keep air out of them.

Kinako Ohagi KitKat

This is a shiny new KitKat that was released yesterday. My husband came home from the gym brandishing it. I normally regard all things kinako with happy anticipation, but I've got two KitKats (sports drink and vegetable - reviews to come in the near future, hopefully) in the fridge waiting for sampling, so I was a little less excited about another being added to the pile. Nonetheless, it looked interesting and I would have purchased it if I had come across it first.


The traditional Japanese sweet pictured on the box is a ball of what looks like rice-based cake (mochi) covered in kinako powder and filled with red beans. I wasn't familiar with "ohagi" and didn't come up with anything definitive when I did a search, but I believe that it is a sweet which has a different name depending on the time of year. In fall, it's called "hagi" and has other names including botamochi. "Hagi" comes from some fall flower, as best I can tell.


The bar smells vaguely of kinako, which isn't surprising considering that the kinako is infused with the chocolate on the outside as well as the cream between the wafers. The first bite is mostly milk chocolate, but the chaser is highly reminiscent of the dreaded Oshiruko KitKat. That taste is a bit of a woodsy, vaguely "mossy" flavor. It's hard to describe, but it is what you think forest dirt might taste like. I realize that this flavor is not the kinako, but the mochiko puffs that are embedded in the chocolate. Both the Oshiruko KitKat and this one have those puffs in common.

This wasn't bad, and I will probably eat the rest, but I definitely wouldn't repeat it because of the flavor of those puffs. The overall flavor is okay, and I'm betting I'd love this if they took out the mochi puffs, but they just ruin the finish for me.

This is also reviewed at Jen's KitKat blog here.

Meiji Marron Chocolate Bar

Chestnuts that are still in their protective cocoons are scary things. They have a hairy, barbed cover which is taxing to remove. When I was a kid, occasionally we'd come across them and fight to pry them free of their prickly casing. Of course, as a child, I really was not fond of eating them because we just tasted them raw. Chestnuts are best when roasted, mashed, or processed in some fashion. Raw ones are a bit on the soft side and not very flavorful. I guess the same can be said for many types of nuts, but those types didn't grow in the area behind my family's property.

Who knew that I'd grow up to love them as an adult who lived halfway around the planet. Fortunately, Japan loves chestnut flavored sweets more than America so every year, I can happily sample new things. I was delighted when I found this Meiji Marron (chestnut) bar at a local market for about a dollar (100 yen).


The bar smells like regular chocolate. It has a thin vein of chestnut running through the center which can't be detected by scent. The first taste is of pretty good quality milk chocolate that is creamy and fatty with a small hint of that distinctive Japanese chocolate bitterness (but less than plain chocolate bars) and what seems to be a coffee-like flavor. The chestnut filling is relatively weak at first, but offers mild chestnut flavor and a bit of salt. It's quite nice, but it takes several bites for the chestnut flavor to develop on your taste buds. While eating the first two squares, I couldn't detect the chestnut as much as in the following two pieces.

The bar has 12 squares and 280 calories. I ate 1/3 of it at a time because I am trying to keep my junk food calories down to 100 or less each day. I think the experience might have been more profoundly enjoyable if I'd have eaten more at once due to the way the flavor needs to build up to be detected. The saltiness really seemed to work in this bar, though those who aren't fond of salty chocolate may find it off-putting.

The ingredients for this are a bit curious. It includes a variety of "powder" ingredients including chestnut, cheese, whey, cream, and sweet potato. Getting the flavor profile seems to have required quite a mix. Personally, I'm gratified that the cheese powder didn't come through in the flavor.

I would definitely buy this again. The only thing that stops me from giving it a "very happy" rating is the fact that there isn't enough chestnut filling for my tastes, or at the very least not enough of a strong chestnut flavor relative to the tasty, but not overly exciting, milk chocolate.

This was also reviewed at Ebidebby's "Snack Love".