Finally, it's part 3 of my Japanese caramel mini-series. I've saved the strangest for last -- these are Hokkaido limited soup curry caramels. I was never a particularly picky eater, but I find that as I get older, there are fewer and fewer foods I don't like. For a long time, asparagus was the devil, but it's become one of my favorite vegetables. Although I'm no Andrew Zimmern, there aren't too many foods that gross me out, either.
And yet, for some reason, I was afraid these particular caramels. It was pretty irrational, since I love almost every kind of curry I've ever tried. The idea isn't particularly gross either, since curry flavored sweets aren't unheard of. Still, they taunted me, and it took a little courage to pop one into my mouth.
The pieces were about 1.5 cm long and smelled just like curry udon. The spice was very bold at first, like the caramel had simply been dipped in curry powder. The spice was a little hot, too, giving a slight burn at the back of my throat just a bit stronger than cinnamon.
Sweetness was completely an afterthought, but under that strong curry flavor, the buttery caramel was there. The combination worked much better than I thought it would, and the chew was quite pleasant, despite a bit of graininess right at the finish. To my surprise, I enjoyed these, and would happily eat them again. They're also great to share, since they're bound to catch people off guard.
B+
