Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way 🎵... Ahhh, how nice it is to get into the festive mood! I'm sure many of you have snow already (jealous!! 😍) and are enjoying snowmen and snowball fights.
The only thing I am experiencing right now is the super cold weather, so Zenpop is helping me bring some Christmas magic with their wonderful snacks! They kindly *sponsored* this festive blog post and sent me a free Japanese Sweets Pack to review.According to the description on their website, each Sweets Pack includes:
- New and trendy snacks from Japanese supermarkets and convenience stores
- Popular items like KitKat or Pocky
- Candy and gummies unique to Japan
- Indulgent sweets like chocolates, cookies, or wagashi
- A variety of salty and savory snacks to delight and surprise you
- At least a dozen or more new things to try in every box!
The theme for the December 2022 box is Snack Sledge and, as explained in their booklet (which can be downloaded from a QR code, isn't it cool?!), Christmas is just around the corner, and we got you covered! Want to surprise a Japan lover among your friends or family members? Send them this Snack Sledge Japanese Snack box ! It’s all you need to treat someone to a merry, merry Christmas!
Oh my, there's lots to unveil in this pack, so let's get right to it! *The following are in order as they appeared in the booklet.
Custard Cake Fraisier from LOTTE
La Vieille France, a famous pastry shop that now has stores across Japan, worked together with LOTTE to create this unique Custard Cake Fraisier. Inspired by the traditional strawberry cake recipe, they’ve reproduced this flavor as a delicious cream wrapped by a soft cake! Japanese Christmas cake is not rich, fruit-laden, or even spiced with ginger. Instead, it is a light sponge cake, covered in whipped cream and decorated with fresh strawberries.
This custard cake was soooo soft!! It almost melts in your mouth, and both the whipped cream and strawberry filling are very light and tasty! I'm trying to be good and make them last until Christmas, but they're just so good that I don't know if I'm going to make it!
Hokkaido Yuki Chocola Kirayuki White from Dounan
White chocolate with a cute snowflake (雪) on top, that’s the new treat from Dounan! It looks like Christmas is around the corner, and it sure delivers the taste. Made from fresh Hokkaido (北海道) dairy, it has a very rich white chocolate flavor and the crunchy texture of cacao nibs.
Hokkaido dairy is renowned to be extra good, so it wasn't a surprise that this white chocolate treat was delectable. The cacao nibs give this a wonderful crunchy texture, and I suppose Zenpop has decided to put my resolve to the test with this eat-one-after-another snack! What am I going to do??
Christmas Boots Snack Set
Did you have stuffing socks hanging by the chimney when you grew up? It’s one of the most exciting feelings to wake up as a child and run towards the crackling pieces of wood still lit after slowly burning through the night, and find a giant sock filled with delicious treats! To make sure you don’t miss out on this for Christmas, we’ve gotten you the whole snack set ready! It’s all there for you to enjoy, Merry Christmas!
This was such a heartwarming surprise! Especially knowing that there was the Takoyaki puff balls I so loved from the July pack! Obviously I had to eat them right away, and they were as good as I remembered! I also enjoyed the hard candies a lot. Plus, the Christmas stocking can be used as decoration!
Ichigo Cake Gummy from Kabaya
More strawberries for you in this cute Kabaya (カバヤ) Strawberry Cake-shaped gummies. As you know now, Strawberry cake is THE cake that most Japanese people will order for Christmas. Those cute gummies (グミ) are miniature that you can place next to each other until you’ve line up all 8 and made a whole cake! Make sure to cut out a part of the package to use as a nameplate on which you can write some Christmas wishes.
These gummies were a delight! They are sweet, and really taste like strawberry cake, and if Zenpop says that you can put them next to each other to form a whole cake, you can bet that's what I'm going to do! Too bad it's not a regular-sized cake!
Baby Star Ramen Tonkotsu Shoyu flavor from Oyatsu Company
Finally, a new flavor in our favorite Ramen snack: Baby Star Ramen Tonkotsu Soy Sauce Flavor (とんこつしょうゆ味). Eat them as a savory snack, or add them to a bowl with boiled water for a unique instant ramen experience!
The Baby Star Ramen was my third encounter with this type of snack, and I've unfortunately come to the conclusion that it's not for me. I like soy sauce but personally, the flavour was a bit too strong and I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would.
Sapporo Potato Tsubu Tsubu Vegetable from Calbee
A timeless snack where you can enjoy the gentle taste of 7 kinds of vegetables (７種類の野菜) and Danshaku potatoes (男爵いも). All the vegetable have been mixed together (つぶつぶ) and made into crumbs that you can enjoy one piece at a time.
This Tsubu Tsubu potato snack was truly a revelation! I have to say that, even though it was a bit of a shame that onion was the vegetable which stood out the most, this was my favourite snack of the entire pack! I was also ecstatic with the fact that it wasn't a small portion. The back of the packet shows you the 7 vegetables, which was super nice! And I certainly did enjoy them one at a time!
Hello Kitty Choco Marshmallow from Eiwa
Heating up marshmallows by the chimney while it’s cold outside? Who wouldn’t want to do that! Those cute Hello Kitty chocolate marshmallows are super cute and a great treat for adults just as it is for kids.
The Hello Kitty marshmallow was so cute!! And very, very tasty! I personally think it was good there was only one inside this pack, as it's undoubtely another snack that fits the eat-one-after-another category! And the chocolate middle was super sweet!
Awa Cola Ramune from Coris
A cola-flavored ramune candy that allows you to enjoy the stimulation of bubbles like a carbonated drink. With lively colors and a pleasant character, this is another original adaption of the popular Ramune drink.
This was a cute snack! Not one of my favourites, but one I still enjoyed. I love the fact that this is a snack you can keep in your purse to have if a craving hits you on the go, and the packaging is indeed very bright and festive!
Puti Kabuki Age from Amanoya
Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan since 1965. And this Kabukiage (歌舞伎揚), released in 1960 by Amanoya (天乃屋), is one of the best-known snacks associated with Kabuki art. Age (揚) in its name is the word (suffix) for fry in English, and Amanoya Kabukiage is one of the most loved deep-fried rice crackers in East Japan. At both ends of the packaging, tricolor banner designs imitate the stage curtain seen in the Kabuki theater called Joshiki Maku (定式幕). However, Kabuki-Age is just a trademark possessed by the Tokyo-based confectionery company Amanoya and has no connection with traditional Kabuki art. These fries have a pleasant crunchy texture, flavored with sweet, thick soy sauce. They have a good old, delicious taste that brings back memories for many Japanese!
Okay, I do like rice crackers, and I do like soy sauce (I'm pretty sure everyone is aware of that now, haha), so nothing could go wrong with this! Too bad the packet was a small one! The crackers were really crunchy and the soy sauce flavour had a good balance, which I enjoyed a lot. I also have an interest in Kabuki, so it was cool to learn some very useful information!
Ichigo Short Choco from Tanseido
Ready for some fortune-telling? Tanseido’s (丹生堂) strawberry short chocolate cake (いちごショートチョコ) comes just with that! Open the lid and check out what it says! Share a photo on social media by tagging us and we’ll give you a translation of what the future holds for you!
Ichigo Short Choco was very tiny and yummy! The chocolate flavour was very light, so I appreciated that. I'll definitely post a picture of my message to know what the future holds for me.
Marshmallow from Yaokin
More marshmallows for you to make everyone happy! If not to make them into smores, you could use them to add to a delicious chocolate cake, or dip them in a chocolate fondue. We’ll let you pick your favorite recipe while we prepare our own!
I really love snacks that evoke childhood memories, and this marshmallow was that for me. I've always loved marshmallows, I always used to get a big bag of them when I was little, and to me, this one tasted like childhood, which made me enjoy this squishy snack even more.
Sankaku Cracker Vegetable Aji from Yaokin
Lightly salted, fragrant, baked triangular (三角) crackers from Yaokin with a gentle vegetable flavor (ベジタブル). Many companies are moving more and more to the production of vegetable-flavored items these days, and Yaokin (やおきん) might actually have been one of the first with the original salad Umaibo!
If there's anything I discovered from this pack, is that vegetable-flavoured snacks are quite tasty! This kind of crackers are very common where I come from, but they're simply salted so it was nice to try a different combination. Definitely a YES from me!
Melon Pandaro from Yaokin
We wrote an entire article about Japan’s notorious Panda cookies! Those delicious treats are hard to get by overseas, so we’ve put them in your box so that you can enjoy them too! Those Panda-shaped cookies have 5 different crispy and funny facial expressions: which one did you see when you unwrapped it?
I really appreciate having this snack in my pack, especially since they're rare to come by over here. The melonpan flavour was quite delicate and light, and I enjoyed it a lot! However, I was genuinely so eager to try it that I didn't even pay attention to the facial expression... Please somebody tell me I was not the only one! 😅
🎄🎄🎄
I wholeheartedly enjoyed the Snack Sledge pack! As always, lots of different tasty treats which certainly put me in a festive mood. Let me know in the comments which of the snacks you'd want to find in your Christmas stocking!
Don't forget that you can get your own pack through this link. You can get $5 off your first pack by adding the code MOCHI5 in the Discount box!
I'll also take this moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a brightful New Year. 💚
次回まで。♥
5 comments
I'm curious about Hokkaido dairy! The snacks sound great (love stocking stuffers) and the ramen has me curious too. The kabuki fries I'd love to try!
ReplyDeleteThose Yaokin crackers look like a perfect snack too, just to have around on Christmas (or anytime!). :) I'm seriously thinking of going to Zenpop and ordering a sub.
A little fun fact for you, Greg (if you didn't already know that). Hokkaido has the highest dairy production in Japan, so its produce tastes extremely good. I've tried other dairy snacks from Hokkaido and they were absolutely to die for!!!
DeleteOh yeah, those Yaokin crackers were super yummy!! And I completely agree with you, they're the perfect snack for the holidays!
Please do!! I'm sure you're gonna love it!! Can I tempt you with my discount code as well? 😉
Thank you! I just saw Silvia's post as well and I am hooked! I need these. :) And thanx for the info about Hokkaido. I've always been fascinated by the place, not sure why, maybe because it's in the north and feels remote. So seeing that it is renowned for its dairy is cool.
DeleteFran, your posts about ZenPop's products are always lovely, and these pictures are especially beautiful and so festive!!! I love them 😍
ReplyDeleteNow, you know how much I love Takoyaki puff balls, so as soon as I saw them here the taste immediately came to mind and now I'm craving them . . . I don't know though if you anticipated that I would fall in love with the panda cookie! seriously, I want it ❤️
Thank you for another wonderful post, and I wish you and Life is a Box of Mochi a merry Christmas and a great New Year! 🎄😘
Thank you, Silvia!! I wanted to create something special for Christmas so I'm glad everyone loved my pictures.
DeleteI knew you would pick the panda cookies!! Hopefully one day you'll get to try them because they're really good.
Happy belated new year!!