Bean Jelly

My schedule for work has me closing every Saturday night. On the way to work, I had gotten into the habit of buying a boba pearl drink from a place down the street. The flavors I got varied from time to time, but I'd always get extra pearls, popping boba and some jellies (usually coconut) added into the milk tea (of which I always got a large cup). The dispatcher on duty that night would always come to my department and check in on me, see how things were going, how I was doing... and then he'd see the drink and start questioning. What the hell is that? What is in it? What is all that? I'd offer to let him try some, but he'd always say no since he had a bad experience when a friend told him to "drink this" and without looking, took the drink, sucked on the straw, and choked on a tapioca pearl.

Since then he's kinda anti those drinks.

Fast forward to recently.

There's a store that I like - Daiso Japan. When describing it to people, I call in the Asian Dollar Store... except everything is $1.50 unless otherwise marked.

Yeah, I kinda love that store. You find some cool stuff in there. Granted, the stationary doesn't make much sense to me, but it's pretty, and sometimes I get some. (But right now, I'm not talking about pens and notebooks.)

I went there a few days ago to get this little change purse for my mother. I have one that I keep in my car that holds random bits of spare change. My mom thought it was cute and wanted one so... I got her one. While there, though, I always have to browse. They have a small snack section - same aisle as stationary stuff... sneaky devils - and while looking over a notebook, there was a lady near me looking at these bars that reminded me of the meal bars from Snowpiercer. 

Still... color me curious.

Making my way to that part of the aisle, I saw that what she had been looking at were these large bars of bean jelly. (Yes, you heard me. bean jelly.) I've had various bean pastes and bean jellies before - like in boba tea and all that - so I thought Why not give it a go? I opted for the smaller pack of four instead of buying multiple large bars of different flavors.

I think the ingredients on the back signify which block is which flavor. If that's the case, the following flavors are...

SALT - sugar, bean jam, glucose syrup, agar and salt.
RED BEAN - sugar, bean jam, red bean, glucose syrup, and agar.
BEAN - sugar, bean jam, glucose syrup, and agar.
PLUM - sugar, bean jam, glucose syrup, agar, vegetable juice (red radish), and plum flavor.

Still not really sure which one is which since the little guys are individually labeled, so let's play a game shall we?

My best guess: Bean

First up is little pink guy... the "one of these things is not like the other" guy since it's the only light-colored one in the group. On the back like a pack of gum, there's a starter strip with an arrow that you're supposed to pull that takes off one end of the wrapping.

There is no real distinctive smell.

For anyone that's ever had red bean mochi, that's the closes I can compare it to that people might understand. Biting into it... the consistency is like biting into a soft bean, but there's a sweetness like with red bean (also probably due to the sugar), that doesn't make it so bad. Not sure what flavor it is. Maybe trying another block will help with that.

My best guess: Salty

Next block up for tasting is little dark guy with blue character writing on it.

Ohhh, this one has a scent. It smells slightly sweet... though when I bite into it... yeah, I found the salty one.

I usually like salty treats, too, but this one is salty bean, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. All the bean type Asian treats I've had have always been a little sweet. This one is still sweet but salty... but not like salted caramel frozen yogurt or chocolate covered salted pretzels. It's not disgusting, but definitely not my favorite.

My best guess: Red Bean

This dark one with pink writing on the label was a little difficult to open. The arrow tab on the back was made of total epic fail. When I finally got it to rip a little, I nearly ripped the whole wrapper off.

There's a scent to this one, too, just like the previous one, but where I thought the previous one might be just red bean and had a plain red bean smell (well, to me anyway), this one smelled slightly sweeter.

I definitely liked this one better than the salty one... but probably about even to the first pink one. The flavor was stronger than the first one, but both are pleasant.

And that leaves one more...

My best guess: Plum

This one had "wrapper fail" as well... right when I thought I had it, it just kept unraveling and unraveling to the point where I had to cut it off with scissors. There was also a slight scent thought not as strong as the others. The taste was similar, but when I bit into it, it tasted just a little off... like red bean with a little something else. (Perhaps that's the plum flavor and the red radish juice doing something to my taste buds.)

So to recap (in order of tasted):

1. okay, not much flavor
2. WAY too salty
3. just right (like Baby Bear's porridge)
4. similar to #3 but a little... off?

I still have NO WAY of knowing which one is actually which since I can't read those characters, but meh. Curiosity sated.

Would I ever try this again?: Probably not. Maybe it was a lesser quality or something, but it just left nothing for my tastebuds to holler at. None of them - save maybe the salty one - offended me, but I think I'll stick to eating my bean jelly in boba drinks or mochi treats. (I can just imagine if I bought the bigger ones. Ick.)

Product of Japan

Exported by:
Daiso Industries Co., LTD.
1-4-14 Yoshiyuki higashi, Saijyo
Higashihiroshima-City, Hiroshima
739-8501       JAPAN

Shrimp Chips - Hot Garlic

I don't remember when I first had them, but I do remember having them young... like when I was in kindergarten or first grade. I remember a time when my mom had forgotten to make my lunch and instead of bringing my lunchbox to school before lunch time, she brought me some food items, one of which were the regular Shrimp Chips...which are baked puffed snacks that taste like shrimp. In describing them to people, I would always say they are shrimp-flavored crackers in the shape of fries (which I thought was pretty accurate). Then people would ask to try some. After having described the treat to them, I thought they would be prepared, but then they'd take one, crunch it up in their mouths and say, "Ew! This tastes like shrimp!" I'd look at the bag... then at them... and I'd think "I told ya it was shrimp. It says so on the damn bag for crying out loud!"

But there's no talking to these people. These are the same people that ask as a question, and you say something like, "She went to the store, and that's all I know." And then proceed to ask more and more questions... as if they didn't hear you say that's all you knew or they think they can jog your mind by poking and prodding you with more questions.

I have friends that do this. I just roll my eyes, sigh and pat them on the head as I smile.

But back to the chips.

So over the years as I've grown older, I've seen different varieties on the classic from my childhood. I usually stuck with the regular since most of the time I only saw Wasabi and Hot Garlic... both of which I took to be HOT as in SPICY and therefore... DEATH!!! (Can you tell I'm a hot wuss?)

Recently I decided to bite the bullet and grab a bag of the Hot Garlic. It was the garlic part that held my interest. I LOVE me some garlic. I had forgotten that I had them, actually, until I went to visit my family recently for the weekend, and tossed them into a bag of road snacks. I actually didn't get around to them until the drive home, and let me tell you... they helped me stay awake a bit.

That's not to say the flavor was strong... it wasn't like licking the sun covered in Cholula or something, but - for me - it was definitely warm... but TASTY! On the drive home, I would grab one, nosh, repeat... repeat... repeat... but it was a small build and getting lost in their tastiness would leave my mouth letting me know it needed a break. I made myself put them away - I think I ate about a third of the bag before willing myself to stop - and then snacked on them this evening after work on when I got home.

And now they're all gone.

The icon is just a big bulb of garlic with no mention of the heat other than the "hot" before it. The back tells you they added Hot Garlic seasoning to make a "spicy, crispy snack". It's also an "ideal snack for any occasion". (Have you ever seen a bowl of these at a party?) And just so you know, it's "made with real shrimp". Not sure what percentage that is, but I'm pretty sure the snack itself would not be on the healthiest foods top ten.

Would I ever try this again?: Of course I would. Sad thing is, this is the kind of snack you have more luck finding in Asian markets as opposed to your local store... but I have come across them in the Oriental/Asian section of my local grocer so all is good. It's a lovely salty snack, great for a PMS treat, and I'm pretty sure there are some cookery type things you can do with them... maybe use them instead of onions on top of a green bean casserole. I dunno. They're just tasty. What else do I need to say?

Manufactured by
Calbee North America, LLC
Fairfield, CA 94534
http://www.calbeeamerica.com