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December 6, 2013

Skoshbox Japanese Treats December 2013


Skoshbox December 2013

1. Haihain Cracker (Baby's Rice Cracker)
- Plain, white, soft, puffy rice cracker.
* Tasted like an oblaten wafer, if you've ever had one. The "hai hai" part of the name means "crawling" & signifies that this treat is for babies, which is why it has no flavor. Specifically, these crackers are made with teething babies in mind. Smalls liked it (well, she liked part of one & then I think she got bored with it. This was the first item in the box she was interested in though, probably because of the little face). I thought it was okay, but there wasn't really anything to it.

Bakauke Senbei, Barin & Borin
2. Bakauke Senbei
-Puffed rice cracker with seaweed bits mixed in, with a hard outer shell seasoned with soy sauce, & a puffy inside.
* Featuring the girlfriend & boyfriend team, Barin & Borin respectively (or Balin & Bolin). Some of you who like anime might recognize the word "baka" and think "wait, that means "stupid" (or "idiot" or the like) doesn't it?" That is correct, but in the Niigata Prefecture in Japan, where this product is made, it pretty much means "stupid good", like, "Man! That banana-shaped senbei is stupid good!" And these are really good. The savory-seaweed flavor was very interesting & I wish I had more to eat!

3. Yuki no Yado (Snowy Inn) Custard Senbei
-Puffed rice round with a dried custard drizzle on top & a very light dusting of salt on the other side.
*This was heaven. I can't get enough of these senbeis with the light, savory sweet thing going on. The custard drizzle was buttery & a tiny bit eggy & the whole thing was so light, & also a little bit chewy.

4. Kami Fuusen (Paper Balloon Ball)
-Multicolored paper (like wax-like tissue paper) ball with a hole in one end so you can blow into it to puff it up. It came flat & folded.
*Smalls totally fell in love with this. She played with it all day & into the night until it finally ripped. Because it's so light, when you toss it into the air, it drifts down.

Mini Senbei Mix
5. Mini Senbei Mix
-Mix of shelled, whole peanuts (still with the red husk on) & tiny, crunchy, shark-shaped (or other fish), puffed rice crackers with a savory/spicy glaze.
*The peanuts were bitter but it was actually a good compliment to the slightly spicy little rice sharks.

6. Cheese Almond Rice Cracker
-Thin & small, round rice cracker with a circle of pale cheese on top & a shelled whole almond on top of that.
*The cracker part had a spicy glaze which was great with the smooth, creamy cheese blob. The shape of the almond on the very top was pretty & it did add a nice dimension of flavor. The whole thing was gone in a second though because it was so small.

Juice Fruit Candy
7. Juice Fruit Candy
-Oval-shaped, fruit-flavored hard candy.
*The strawberry flavored one was refreshing & not too sweet & the lemon one smelled like dish soap (in a good way) and tasted like a fruit loop. Smalls declared them "deewishus".

Strawberry Kit Kat
8. Strawberry Kit Kat
-Like a regular Kit Kat (shape) but coated in a white chocolate & strawberry combination with strawberry cream inside with the wafer strips.
*This was very light & creamy. The coating was not too thin & there were tiny bits of strawberry in the coating that gave a little tang when they hit the tongue. Very nice.

9. Peanut Butter Stick
-Peanut flavored rice cereal cylinder.
*This was like a Rice Krispie treat with peanut brittle flavor. The rice bits were small & the whole thing was so nicely chewy & airy & had a great roasted peanut flavor.

Carême Soft Cookie
10. Carême Soft Cookie
-Soft, round butter or shortbread type of cookie with no coating or filling of any kind.
*This was so smooth & creamy-cakey. Very nice & gone too quickly. The name Carême comes from a a man in the late 1700s - early 1800s, who practiced the "high art" of French cooking & whom many consider the first real "celebrity chef".

Mini Baum Roll
11. Mini Baum Roll
-Bourbon flavored sponge roll covered with a layer of matcha (green tea) mousse or chocolate.
*The liquor smell was prevalent when I open the package, but it wasn't really discernible in the taste of the rolled up cake. There was a hint of the green tea flavor (kind of grassy, kind of roasty) in the outer coating though, which was nice.


My favorite was definitely #3, the custard senbei.


FYI: The views expressed in these review posts are totally my own. I pay for my Skoshbox subscription & post these reviews simply because I think this subscription box is a lot of fun & because I love Asian treats & want to share my thoughts!

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