Mini Fried Dough Twist, Salty Shallot Flavor

Right up until the point I pulled out this snack today it seemed like an amazing idea. Mini fried dough twists? So basically a churro right? And I started wagging my tail in anticipation of this. But then... I saw in the left right corner "salty shallot flavor" and I tilted my head in confusion. These... don't seem like things that'll go together. But maybe it'll work anyways. I mean I definitely have more of a sweet tooth, so it's going to be a bit disappointing either way, but onion flavor snacks can be great, and this seems like it's taking it to a different form factor altogether.

Thankfully this Chinese company knows better than to leave a bunch of dough twists bumping into each other overseas, so they are packaged in threes within. They have a texture that's not soft, but not entirely crispy-hard either, somewhere in between. Basically they hold their shape. The smell as I expect is oniony, and very salty. This might be too much salt for me, but only one way to find out.

Each one definitely has a bite to it, enough to make it feel significant. It's about the texture of your average cereal once you bite of each piece with a satisfying pop. It is salty, but not unbearably so. Having the doughy interior there makes this hole thing work. It's a bit of a buttery taste too, which actually goes quite well with the salt and shallots. The shallots pack a punch, but the butter and dough manage to mellow that down to something that makes me not too overwhelmed eating it. This snack isn't anything mindblowing, although it could be if in bigger form with more quality ingredients. I could see these being similar to breadsticks, and the oniony flavor could certainly spice those up. For now though, just a nice little salty, oniony treat.

Rating: 6 - Aruff!

Don Tacos Grilled Corn Flavor

What's this Mexican snack doing in my Japanese snack box??? Just kidding, the text confirms it's fully Japanese, but the title makes it sound like something else. I actually love Mexican food as well, might as well call me a Mexican wolf, but Japan definitely has the more inventive snacks. So much so that it seems they're doing it for the Mexicans now. No matter what the concept for this is or the culture I'm excited as grilled corn sounds like a great taste to make a savory snack from.

Of course the snack inside seems to be a direct copy of a Mexican snack too, the tortilla chip! I should've figured as a corn snack it might be this. The flavor, however, is different. I get a much sweeter smell from the box than your typical tortilla chip, it smells very buttery, just like the corn slathered with butter on the package. So this may be a different approach to the tortilla chip.

And as expected, the taste is sweeter too but it also tastes much more... authentic than your typical tortilla chip? Maybe this is because it's actually trying to capture the flavor of grilled corn. If not for the texture I'd think I was having corn nachos topped with butter and some cotija cheese. It's a nice blend of sweet and salty and buttery and well... corny... and there does seem to be a bit of a cheesy taste in there but I'm not quite sure. I quite like it, it has more flavor than your average tortilla chip. The original may blend better with salsa and queso, but this stands out very well on its own. But it certainly makes me worried for the future of Mexican cuisine... if Japanese snack makers are producing chips like these, will they eventually take over the entirety of Mexican cuisine? Not that I'd mind ramen burritos.

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

Pandaro Melon Bread Cookie

This snack comes at a very convenient time because I just watched an episode of the anime Yakitate!! Japan all about melon bread and after seeing that I couldn't not go for the melon bread snack first thing when I opened this box. By the way if you love baking, go watch that anime, it's quite stellar and I'm learning a ton about bread. And licking my lips the whole time. But now, let's dive in! A small cookie, hopefully it packs tons of melon flavor.

First impressions are good. The cookie has a really cute panda face, and has some green in it to represent the melon. But the smell is absolutely tantalizing! I didn't get how melon bread was supposed to work watching the anime, but I certainly do now. It's primarily a butter smell but with the fruity tangy accent of the melon. It all makes sense, this could supply the one thing butter cookies are missing which is flavor depth. I can't wait any longer to dig in.

I get pretty much everything I was expecting from the cookie. It has a strong butter flavor, and while I'm not a fan of melon normally, it's the perfect accent here, adding some tanginess to contrast the stark sweetness and richness. And none of that annoying watered down nonsense.

Although the texture of the cookie is slightly disappointing. I would've liked this to be a bit softer. One of the things melon bread seemed to be known for is the combination of fluffy bread and crispy cookie but all we get here is cookie. It means too that the depth of flavor doesn't last quite long enough or really melt in my mouth too well. Good start, but mostly it just had me craving real melon bread. I have to find some!

Rating: 7 - Aroof!

Kracie Popin Cookin Ramen

I've long been a fan of these DIY kits even from seeing the package, they're so cute! Making candy disguised as mini food is such a neat idea, and although I'd often rather have the bigger food, it makes up for it with the fun of making everything myself, and no dishes! I love ramen too, and although it doesn't usually come with dumplings, this one does. The more food the merrier!

Yaokin Butter Cream Roll Cake

Yaokin! Good to have you back. This Japanese brand has already shown me the wonders of pudding and marshmallows, so I have high hopes for this treat. This is the first Japanese pastry-type snack I've had, and I love me some pastries. Trust me, it took a huge amount of self control to not pounce on the matcha cake rolls at my Japanese market. This particular one though is butter cream flavor, and it looks like it has a wonderful yellow filling. Which suggests lemon, but I guess not. Yellow butter can be a thing.