Trying Kit-Kats from Japan

As a child I always loved Kit-Kats. The chocolate had a distinct flavor than all the other chocolate candy. But then I went to Japan for the first time and my love for Kit-Kats deepened. I never knew Kit-Kats were so popular in Japan that they had more than 40 flavors existing. My goal is to eat as many different flavors of Kit-Kats as possible. I've eaten a few Kit-Kats before I started blogging: green tea, green tea sakura, pudding, sweet potato and brown rice tea. I recently went back to Japan and knew I wanted to add to my Kit-Kat experience, and I always look for flavors I know I can't get at an Asian market back home. Here are three Kit-Kats I discovered while in Japan.

TokyoTreat Review

This is by far the best snack/candy subscription box I've come across. It's going to be hard to get any better then TokyoTreat. I would usually give you the good, the bad, and whatever else I have to say about this box but there's really only good to TokyoTreat. I'm reviewing TokyoTreat with having experienced two months worth of boxes, the April and May box. I write these reviews solely to help people decide on what they should spend their money on, and if you need to spend your money on a monthly subscription box full of Japanese snacks then this is a box well worth it.

Let's get started!

I fully enjoyed these boxes from TokyoTreat. As you may or may not know, I've already done a review on the popular, well-known Japan Crate. In review, it was an okay box but I felt it wasn't worth the money. The snacks and candies were not thought out well enough in my opinion. TokyoTreat fixes all of this and has brought new light into snack boxes for me. The candies and snacks in TokyoTreat are more thought out for the consumers and are realistic snacks people eat in Japan. It's well diverse in its types of candies and snacks, from chips to dyi kits to flavored candies. There will always be something for everyone.

Now, like all snack subscription boxes there are sizes. TokyoTreat has small, regular, and premium. Just like when I tried Japan Crate, I bought the premium box for TokyoTreat. It is well worth it. You get all the snacks from the small and regular boxes plus all the candy included from the premium box. The premium box also contains a drink, a special merchandise of some kind, and a dyi kit. For $35.00 and free shipping that's a pretty good deal. If you're not game for spending $35.00 a month, I totally understand. The small boxes are $15.00 and the regular are $25.00. With these boxes you can only get a few snacks and a regular gets the dyi kit. No drink and special item for these two boxes. I suggested this before but it could be a good idea to share with a friend. You could both split the cost of the box and share all the snacks. Whatever can't be shared can get claimed by a good game of rock-paper-scissors.

The snacks!!! I am in love with these snacks TokyoTreat chooses. The snacks are ones that are popular in Japan and taste delicious. In the April box, my favorite snacks were the custard flavor Koala's March from Lotte and the yakisoba flavored Baby Star snack. For May, there were a ton of green tea flavored snacks. There was no way to go wrong with these. In addition to the green tea snacks, for those who may not be green tea fans, there were other great snacks in the May box such as Raspberry Kit Kats and the different flavored Umaibou snacks. The drinks were great too! April had the Sakura Pepsi which tasted like bubblegum cola and May had Green Tea Soda. The two were okay tasting but I was more thrilled about getting that experience of trying these drinks without having to be in Japan.

And for all of you who are into the "weird Japan" related snacks, they even cater to you. Unlike like other boxes it's not filled with only the "weird Japan" snacks. TokyoTreat supplies that one snack that would be very adventurous to none Japanese residents. In April they supplied dried nori (seaweed) and wasabi crisps and in May they had spicy cod snacks. I say "weird Japan" because that's what a lot of people think of these flavors, but in reality these flavors are normal over in Japan.

So overall, I loved this Japanese snack subscription box, TokyoTreat. I've kept the monthly subscription that I signed up for. My husband and I look forward in seeing what will come to us. And as a bonus, the pamphlet that comes in the box is really nice too, showing the descriptions of all the snacks and even has little Japanese folklore stories inside. Like I said before, you really can't go wrong with TokyoTreat!

I hope you enjoyed this review. I think it's pretty helpful for those who are looking for the perfect snack subscription box. Follow me on all my social media for more Japan related things! Thanks again!

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What to Buy at the Asian Market

A few posts ago I wrote about Japanese Markets in America. It got a ton of attention and was received well with all of you. If you haven't seen it yet, here it is: http://japantherapyneworleans.blogspot.com/2015/11/japanese-market-in-america.html.

After this post I got a few messages about what to buy at these Japanese Asian Markets. My first thought was you can just buy whatever it is that you like, but then I realized that the people who asked were people unfamiliar with Japanese food and never went to an Asian Market before. Now, I'm here to give you my personal shopping list when I go to the Asian Market. Keep in mind that I am not the cook in the household, my husband is. So a lot of my stuff are snacks and easy fixes.

Here we go!

Snacks and Candy

So I'm going to be generalizing this one. There are so many snacks and candies to choose from and they're all really good. You really can't go wrong with any of them. In the picture is Pocky and Pretz. Pretty much anything made by Glico and Meiji will be delicious. My favorite Japanese candy is Apollo Chocolate. It's a mix of chocolate and strawberry flavor. 

Swiss Roll Cakes

These cakes are so good! I love them. I remember finding them in Japan when I studied abroad so when I found them here in America I was ecstatic. These little cakes are great in the mornings with a cup of milk. They come in various flavors but my favorites are the creme and strawberry flavor.

(If you couldn't tell already, I love strawberry flavor).

Dorayaki

This is for those who are more adventurous. Dorayaki are traditional Japanese snacks. It's a pastry with red bean paste inside. Think of it as red bean paste in between two small pancakes. If you're into traditional sweets and are okay with red bean paste then you should like these.

Ramen

I know many of you are familiar with cup noodle or other variations of it that is referred to as ramen, but this is a better quality of ramen. Think of it as a ramen kit. In this bag you get broth and noodles, everything else you'll have to buy separately. My husband buys these when we want to have a ramen night for dinner. This packet serves both of us. We love the Tonkotsu flavor which is pork. We add in pork tenderloin, green onion, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts. It taste great. I hope you give this a try because it definitely beats those cup ramen brands.

Drinks

Another one I'm generalizing for is drinks. You really can't go wrong here either because they're all great drinks. I personally love the melon soda the best. Ramune is always fun to have on occasion though. There will always be green tea available if you are a green tea fan and not into the carbonated drinks. And then there's Calpis (Calpico). I'm still not sure of this drink. It has a milky texture and kind of like a yogurt flavor. I don't think it's something I would buy for myself but I'd drink it if someone bought it for me.

Mochi Ice Cream

Mochi Ice Cream is amazing! They come in many flavors and are a great bedtime snack. Everyone should already know what ice cream is but for those of you who may not know what mochi is it's like a gummy rice. It's really good, but if you don't like gummy texture you might want to try this with caution. My personal favorites are the strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate chip flavors. Other flavors are coffee, mango, red bean, and chocolate.

Rice

Now I'm getting more into the cooking aspect of shopping. This is the brand of rice we like to buy. It's called Nishiki. It's really good. We use this rice when we have teriyaki burgers, curry, or gyudon (beef bowl) for dinner. We cook the rice with our Japanese rice cooker that we also bought from our local Asian market. This rice is like candy, that's how good it is.

Curry

There are many brands for curry but we buy the Golden Curry brand ( you can get this brand at a grocery store). It's great and easy to make. Curry is a fast and easy dinner in Japan. It is one of the most common dinners to make. When in Japan, I like to go to Kokoichi but this does the job when I'm not in Japan. Here's the YouTube video by Japan vlogger Micaela, that my husband uses, on how to make curry.

Miso Soup

I love a really good miso soup. I'm still kind of on the search for a really good one. So far I can only get really good ones at two local restaurants. There are two kinds of miso: red and white. I prefer the taste of the white miso over the red because the white isn't as fishy tasting, if that makes sense. The brands in the picture are pretty good though. Some brands may require you to buy your own seaweed and tofu so check the bag.

And that's what I buy when I go to a Japanese Asian Market. I hope this helps in your ventures at your local Asian market. Like I said, I'm not the cook in the house so there weren't many cooking related items on this list. If you could tell, I'm more of a snacking kind of person. Let me know what you like to buy from the market or what you think I should try.

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Japanese Market in America

I personally love to go to Asian Markets around my hometown. We have many to choose from due to the Asian population in New Orleans. Since New Orleans is a port city it is common to encounter many different people and cultures. New Orleans is truly a "Gumbo City," a city made up of different cultures. The Asian Markets I have encountered so far have a bit a everything from different countries. The differences of the markets are who may own them. If a Chinese man owns a market it will have more Chinese products than anything else. There's another market around the city owned by a Korean family, so they sell more Korean products. My favorite Asian Market to go to is owned by a Japanese man and they sell the most Japanese products. It is truly heaven, walking into that store.

For the sake of being a blog about Japan I will be talking about what you can find at a Japanese Market in America. Now the store I'm referring to will be different from other ones around the country but they will have similarities and you should totally check them out.

Spices and Sauces

There are so many different spices and sauces to choose from. Many people don't think of spices when they think of Japanese food, but they have there own spices that are great for their food. One if the most popular Japanese spices is called Nanami Togarashi. This is a type of chili pepper that is used in a lot of Japanese cooking. As for sauces, they have every sauce you can think of. There's sauces for Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki, and Yakisoba. If it's a cooked Japanese food there is most likely a sauce for it.

Fruits and Vegetables

Japan has many fruits and vegetables that are only native to their country.  A Japanese market may have these fruits and vegetables to purchase. Japanese fruit are very interesting. An apple in America is usually small but Japanese apples are huge. Many fruits that are well known in America are either bigger in size or smaller than usual in Japan. The vegetable selection is wide with the usual carrots, cabbage, and potatoes to the Japanese vegetables such as daikon (radish), taro, renkon (lotus root), and goya (bitter melon). These types of vegetables are not common in regular grocery stores but may be food at a Japanese market. Experimenting with Japanese vegetables is a great way to introduce yourself to Japanese food as it is used in many Japanese dishes.

Drinks and Snacks

One of the most popular reasons to go to a Japanese market is for the various flavored drinks and snacks. There are obviously different brands of green tea and other teas such as Jasmine tea. Famous Japanese drinks you can find at a Japanese market are Ramune, Calpis, and Pocari Sweat. There are also Japanese beers and sake to choose from for persons of age. The snacks are the best part of the market. This is the section that gets me the most excited. There's so many different kinds of snacks such as chips, candy, and ice cream. The popular candies are Pocky, Milkita, Hi-Chew, and Koala March. These candies come in popular flavors such as strawberry, chocolate, and green tea. Lately, there have been special flavors out such as chocolate banana and cookies n' cream. Chips are another great snack to purchase. A popular chip snack is Pretz, biscuit sticks that come in various flavors you would find in chips. And then there's the ice cream section. It's so beautiful, all the ice cream that's available. There's mochi ice cream in almost any flavor you can think of, frozen taiyaki, cream puffs, and Japanese ice cream sandwiches.

Tableware and Trinkets

If you're looking for some really nice Japanese tea sets or bowls then you need to visit a Japanese market. Not only is it reasonably priced but there are really nice quality ones along with the more cheaper kinds. Ever wanted a ramen bowl and a soup spoon you always see at Japanese restaurants? Well you can find all of that at the Japanese market. There's also some bento cutters to shape vegetables and nori (seaweed). Need a cool set of chopsticks? They got that. Want to learn oragami? They have paper for that. You can get a bunch of cool stuff at a Japanese market.

I hope this helps many of you venture off to an Asian market. It can be intimidating at first but once you go into the store you'll feel right at home when you see all the items available. Happy shopping!

If you liked this you should check out some of my other posts. I talk about various topics related to Japan such as anime, culture, food, and lifestyle. Enjoy!

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Japan Crate Review

I've recently obtained a Japan Crate. I got it as a birthday present from a friend. For those of you who don't know what a Japan Crate is, it's a subscription box of Japanese candy and snacks that's delivered to your house every month. It's candy that comes straight from Japan. There are three sizes to the Japan Crate. I got the premium box which is the biggest and comes with the most items. At first I was super excited about it because I'd get to relive Japan from the comfort of my home. That statement is half true and half false. Let me explain within the review.

When I opened the box I was blown away by all the colors and cute packaging. I felt the nostalgia when I saw Japanese writing on the wrappers. My friend and I made a video review, so we opened each individual candy. We took turns choosing a candy to open. The first few were great, but then it got worse. Not worse as in it all tasted bad but worse in the sense that I got bored with it towards the end.

There are several reasons why I got bored with it. My first problem was there seemed to be way more gum products than actual candy. If you're a big candy flavored gum person then you're good to go in getting a Japan Crate. The second problem I had was that there was only three things that I genuinely liked in the Japan Crate: the Banana Cream Chocolate flavored Pocky, the Ramune drink, and the chocolate bar that had a card of a dog in it. Everything else I could've done without. The third and final problem was the snacks that were bizarre. I understand the purpose of them being there as a wow factor and as a fun to try thing, but it ends up being a waste of space in the long run. There were two candies that I considered gag candy: the Big Bar Z that tasted like a popcorn churro and the soy sauce mochi bar. The sadder part about those two candies is that they're both part of the mini box which only contained five items total! I was lucky that my friends got me the premium box, but what about those people that subscribed to the mini box? I just didn't find the snacks to be well rounded.

Overall:
My overall recommendation is to definitely buy a box first before subscribing to the Japan Crate service. I feel the once a month subscription service is not worth it due to the fact that it's a lot of candy at once if you don't space it out and you simple don't get what you want. My friends told me he spent about $30 for the premium box. I feel that was way over priced. I rather go to my local Asian Market and buy exactly what I want when I want it.

That's my review of the Japan Crate. I'll be doing more crate/box reviews occasionally since I'm doing video reviews for an organization I'm involved in called Awesome Geeks. I run the Japan and anime section of the organization, along with the business aspect of it. I'll put the video link in later when I have the YouTube link up. Hope this was interesting and helpful for you.

See you next time!