Valentine's Day Chocolate Yakisoba Taste Test

Recently even instant noodle makers have been trying to get in on the Valentine's Day action.

Last year the Ippei-chan Yomise no Yakisoba line of instant yakisoba by maker Myojo had a "Choco Sauce" version that was pretty terrible.

The problem was that it simply added chocolate sauce to standard yakisoba sauce and toppings--not a good match. (See RocketNews for another review.)

This year, a different maker, Peyoung, also decided to try their hand at chocolate yakisoba, just in time for Valentine's Day: Peyoung Chocolate Yakisoba Giri. (*Giri means obligatory, a reference to giri chocolate which is chocolate that females give to males on Valentine's Day out of a sense of obligation rather than actual feelings of love/affection--e.g. chocolate female co-workers give to male co-workers.*)

Since neither of us had tried this particular brand of instant yakisoba before, my husband and I decided to eat both the standard Peyoung Sauce Yakisoba (MSRP 170yen) and the Valentine's Day Peyoung Chocolate Yakisoba Giri (MSRP 185ye) for dinner on Valentine's Day.

Surprisingly, the chocolate yakisoba was pretty good once I got over the weirdness of eating sweet noodles. The freeze-dried strawberry pieces and "crouton" (more like rusk) toppings complemented the sauce pretty well, and the sauce itself wasn't excessively sweet. In fact, I probably liked it better than the regular yakisoba, which was too salty for my tastes.

The key difference betweeen the Peyoung chocolate yakisoba this year and last year's Ippei-chan chocolate yakisoba was that the Peyoung yakisoba was yakisoba in name only. Whereas the Ippei-chan version tried to combine regular yakisoba with chocolate sauce, Peyoung's approach was to make a tasty chocolate sauce that just happened to be on yakisoba noodles. As a result, it was surprisingly not bad, and I think it was worth trying.

But I probably wouldn't go out of my way to buy it again.

McDonald's Japan Chocolate Fries

McDonald's Japan Chocolate Fries Part I: "McChoco Potato"

From late January to mid-February, McDonald's Japan offered a limited time Valentine's Day menu item of fries with regular and white "double" chocolate sauce. As soon as I read about it on RocketNews24, I knew I had to try it.

Kusa Mochi Azuki Monaka Ice Cream Sandwich

Monaka is a popular Japanese sweet (和菓子 wagashi) traditionally "made of azuki bean filling sandwiched between two thin crisp wafers made from sticky-rice." 
(Source: TORAYA, "Types of Wagashi")

The azuki paste can also be replaced with ice cream for a delicious Japanese-style ice cream sandwich. Monaka are one of my favourite types of ice cream treats because they are relatively clean to eat and easy to split for sharing (important since my husband and I usually share food).

The standard ice cream monaka has a plain wafer and vanilla ice cream. There are many different brands, but my personal favourite is Lotte's "Monaou." The name combines the words monaka (モナカ) and ou (王=king) and means "Monaka King."

 

 

Recently, however, I discovered a Kusa Mochi Azuki Monaka--intriguing as it combined two traditional Japanese sweets (kusa mochi and monaka) with an ice cream twist.

(Mochi is a type of "rice cake" made by pounding sticky rice until it reaches a chewy, dough-like texture. Kusa mochi (草もち literally: "grass/weed mochi") is mochi made with yomogi (Japanese mugwort) which gives the mochi a distinctive green colour and slightly grassy flavour.)
Opening the package I was surprised to see the smooth texture of the wafers; it made it look much more like a traditional (non-ice-cream) monaka.

Kusa Mochi Azuki Monaka Ice Cream

regular (non-ice-cream) monaka

Biting into the monaka, rather than the slightly grass-like taste of kusa mochi, I was surprised by a faint taste of cinnamon. The exact taste is hard to describe, but I really liked it and would definitely recommend it--in fact I went out and bought another two bars shortly after first trying it.

Lawson Gudetama Sweets

Gudetama is a Sanrio character created in 2013. He is a lazy, lethargic egg.

At first I thought it was a really strange idea for a character, but after seeing the character in action (in short animations, comics, and Twitter pictures), his unique personality came to grow on me--probably because I'm pretty lazy myself.

Lawson started selling Gudetama-themed foods starting in late March. They are limited in quantity, so best not to wait if you see them and want to try them!

Here are some of the sweets I have managed to try so far:

Gudetama Mango Almond Jello ぐでたま　マンゴ杏仁豆腐　(gudetama mango annin dofu) 195yen *probably sold out*

 

 

As you can see, the Gudetama face is just printed on the plastic covering the pudding. Taste-wise, a standard/straight forward mango pudding and almond jello. Tasty but a bit pricey for what you get.

Egg Bread くでたま　たまごぱん (gudetama tamagopan) 130yen *may still be available*

 

 

Castella sponge cake-like filling wrapped in a cookie/biscuit dough--like melon pan. Loved how the shape and yellow inside really made it look like an egg! Good value for the price, too, since it was quite filling. I would buy it again.

Gudetama Pudding くでたま　プリン 240yen *should still be available*

 

 

Like the Gudetama Mango Almond Pudding, the face is simply printed on the plastic around the pudding. Didn't really like the thin sponge-cake-type layer at the bottom of the pudding. Also, to keep the pudding from losing its shape, it was firmer than the typical Japanese pudding which I didn't really like. It was worth trying once, but I would rather get a bigger, tastier, and cheaper "normal" pudding rather than paying a premium for the cute packaging.

More Gudetama Information:
Gudetama Sanrio Character Page (Japanese): http://www.sanrio.co.jp/character/gudetama/
Gudetama Short Animation Playlist (Japanese): YouTube
RocketNews24: "Meet the most unmotivated Sanrio character ever -- Gudetama, the lazy egg!"

Afternoon Tea x Pocky

Kirin bottled tea brand "Gogo no Koucha" (午後の紅茶 meaning "Afternoon Tea") and Glico's "Pocky Midi" currently have a collaboration product campaign going on.

If you buy a bottle of Gogo no Koucha's "Honnori Cinnamon no Apple Tea" (ほんのりシナモンのアップルティー meaning "faintly cinnamon apple tea") and a box of "Butter Hanayagu Potteri Custard" (バター華やぐ ぽってりカスタード loosely meaning "Buttery Rich Custard") Pocky Midi, you can combine the packages to make a charming fairytale scene.

Being a sucker for advertising--although I also do happen to like both Gogo no Koucha and Pocky quite a lot--of course I had to go out and buy both products shortly after seeing the ad. (At Lawson's, it was 151yen for the Gogo no Koucha, and 193 yen for the Pocky Midi.)

On the package, it recommends drinking some tea eating some Pocky, and then drinking tea again for the best taste experience. Apparently the tea is supposed to taste different after eating the Pocky, but I honestly couldn't tell the difference.

The tea is tasty; although if you are hoping for a good balance of cinnamon and apple, you'll probably be disappointed since--true to the flavour name--it really is nothing more than a "faint" after taste of cinnamon at best. But--as I find to be the case with most white-chocolate based treats--the Pocky is rather over sweet. Surprisingly it does actually have a bit of a buttery taste, though, so it's not just a standard custard flavour.  

What I liked most about the products, though, is the variety of arrangements possible due to the fact that there are two different Pocky box designs and the label on the tea also has two different designs.

Based on the advertising, it's likely the makers intended them to be aligned in this manner:

 

But the products can also be aligned in this manner if you so desire:

 

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I'd like to think this could be considered a small win for equality?

Pokka Coffee Potato Chips Taste Test

I don't even like coffee, but nonetheless I couldn't resist when I found Pokka Coffee* Potato Chips (149yen)at the local Mini Stop. (Incidentally, I couldn't find the chips at grocery stores or other convenience stores--only Mini Stop.)

*Pokka Coffee is a Japanese brand of (sweetened) canned coffee that was first produced in 1972.

There was distinct coffee smell upon opening the bag, but thankfully it didn't actually taste like coffee. It was more like a slightly bitter caramel taste. I thought the slight saltiness of the chips worked well to balance out the sweetness. It felt a bit strange to be eating sweet potato chips, but at the time they were actually strangely addictive. My husband and I polished off the bag in short order.

I probably wouldn't go out of my way to buy the chips again, but if I had them in front of me I would definitely eat them--and probably polish off the entire bag, too!

Instant tonjiru udon taste test

Tonjiru (豚汁) is a hearty type of miso soup made with pork and vegetables that is considered a staple of Japanese home cooking. Ingredients vary from household to household and person to person, but (along with the pork) most recipes include carrots, gobou (burdock root), and konnyaku (konjac or devil's tongue) among other ingredients.

I love tonjiru and usually make mine with pork, carrots, potatoes, onions, gobou, konnyaku, and shiitake. Throw in some udon and tonjiru is also an awesome meal on its own!

homemade tonjiru udon

So when I saw instant tonjiru udon available at the grocery store, I knew I had to try it! There were two brands available, so I bought both and did a taste test.

Left: Maruchan "Atsu Atsu Tonjiru Udon"
Price: 108yen
Net Wt.: ~109g
Toppings: pork, aburaage, gobou, potatoes, carrots, leeks
425kcal; 6.1g sodium

Right: Nissin "Donbei Tonjiru Udon"
Price: 138yen
Net Wt.: ~99g
Toppings: pork, aburaage, gobou, carrots, leeks
416kcal; 5.1g sodium

Inside both packages, there were pieces of aburaage (a type of fried tofu), a package of toppings (kayaku かやく) and soup (ekitai soup 液体スープ), but the Nissin one also had a package of shichimi spices (七味).

The preparation instructions were also pretty much the same for both:
1. open up the lid halfway and remove the topping/soup/spice packages
2. add the toppings to the noodles
3. fill with hot water up to the line inside the bowl (~350mL for Maruchan, and ~370mL for Nissin)
4. close the lid, place the soup package on top of the lid (to warm up the soup), and let sit for 5min
5. remove the lid, add the soup (and spices for Nissin), mix and enjoy!

just add water!

Maruchan Atsu Atsu Tonjiru Udon

Nissin Donbei Tonjiru Udon

 Both were pretty tasty, but the Maruchan soup had a stronger miso taste, and the toppings were in bigger pieces and had a bit more variety than the Nissin version, so the taste of the toppings was more obvious.

The Nissin soup was a bit lighter so you could appreciate the addition of the shichimi spices. Since I tend to use a lighter hand with the miso when making my own tonjiru, the Nissin soup was closer to the taste of my tonjiru than the Maruchan soup. I also preferred the Nissin noodles since the texture was a bit...softer? They tasted/felt closer to regular udon than the Maruchan noodles, which were more rubbery/firm and obviously instant noodles.

So, here are my picks for the better brand based on various criteria:
Price/Value: Maruchan
Health: Nissin
Toppings: Maruchan
Noodles: Nissin
Soup: Tie (really a matter of preference, both were equally good)

As you can see, each is good in its own way, but if I had to pick, I would choose the Maruchan Atsu Atsu Tonjiru Udon for the value and the very clear "tonjiru!" taste from the stronger miso taste and size and variety of the toppings.