Shiratama Anmitsu Choco Ball

I haven't always had good luck with limited edition flavors of Choco Ball, but look how cute this little box is! I couldn't resist it. Plus, I had been craving anmitsu all summer. It wasn't that I thought these would taste like a bowl of anmitsu, but maybe they would remind me of it.

Anmitsu is, after all, a bit of a pain to make. It's a beautifully arranged dessert with fruits, rice dumplings, jellies, ice cream, and red beans, all topped with syrup. It requires a lot of preparation, though it is refreshing, delicious, and probably worth the effort. I've never made it myself.

As soon as I unwrapped the plastic, there was a strong fruity smell coming from the box. I wasn't sure what fruit, maybe cherry or melon, but it wasn't entirely appealing. The white coating was sweet and a bit creamy, more like candy melts than white chocolate. It didn't have much flavor.

The center reminded me of both agar agar and mochi - it was tougher than either, more like a gummy candy. The flavors inside were slightly reminiscent of azuki (red beans), but for having such a strong scent, it only tasted vaguely fruity. Together with the coating, I got a weird, syrupy flavor that was sort of like anmitsu. I wasn't expecting a perfect replica, but these just weren't great.

C

Morinaga Choco Ball website

Bourbon Sakuramochi Mochi Chocolat

In a previous post, I mentioned how hard it is to find traditional Japanese sweets outside of Japan. That time, it was mitarashi dango, but here's another one to add to the list: sakuramochi. Sakuramochi are pretty little pink rice cakes filled with sweet red beans and wrapped in pickled sakura (cherry blossom) tree leaves. They might look or taste a little different depending where in Japan you get them, but they are sweet with a subtle very subtle sourness.

Bourbon makes this fancy line of chocolates called もちしょこら (mochi shokora), or Mochi Chocolat. On my last napaJapan purchase, I got the Matcha, Ganache, and Sakuramochi flavors. The thought occurred to me to review the matcha mochi chocolates right after I polished off the whole box, but at least I remembered to do the sakuramochi.

The box contained two separate packs of 4 mochi balls, so if you have some self control, you can share them or at least not eat all at once lest they go stale. I wish the box had contained a little pick or spear because the sticky little mochi were tough to get out of the container. The mochi chocolates smelled a little like fresh cherries with a hint of a sour, pickled aroma - and that's a good thing!

Rest assured that the outer coating was soft, sticky, actual mochi! According to the box, the middle layer of cherry chocolate was made with sakura leaves. It had no chocolate taste whatsoever, just a delicate cherry flavor. The red bean center was nice, adding just a touch of sweetness and a little pleasantly beany texture. The whole thing was a soft, lovely medley of textures and mild flavors.

A-

Bourbon website

Tirol Chocolates

Here's another bit of my recent napaJapan order. One of the reasons Tirol chocolates are so fun is that Tirol is always putting out new limited edition package designs and flavors. Sometimes, these limited edition Tirol chocolates are themed, and two of the Tirol in this review feature Kumamon, the mascot for Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan. You can probably guess which two.

Tirol chocolates mainly come in two sizes, and the ones pictured and reviewed here are the larger size. Many of those limited edition flavors I mentioned above only come in the larger size, and unfortunately, I have yet to see this size make it to import stores in the United States. On the bright side, it's relatively easy to find variety/mix packs of the smaller size in larger cities in the US and Canada. These packs usually have one or two rotating special flavors along with the classic Tirol flavors, so you're

First up is Jersey Milk Soft Serve. I had no idea what Jersey milk was, but according to Wikipedia, Jersey cattle are known for their high milkfat milk and their "genial disposition." They sure sound like nice cows! But having never tasted Jersey milk, I can't say whether or not these Tirol hit the mark. The chocolate smelled a bit like sweet cheese, and pieces of ice cream cone were visible in the white chocolate. Overall, the flavors were fairly plain. The chocolate tasted milky and lightly sweet, and it had a creamy, smooth melt. I really enjoyed the bits of cone, which had a fun crunch. B

I've never had Ikinari Dango, but they are rice dumplings made with sweet potato and sweet red bean. This Tirol has been released before, and you can check out Tasty Japan's review here. The chocolate had a somewhat starchy smell that reminded me of prepackaged manju. The chocolate and filling had a slightly grainy, vegetal texture. The chewy mochi center was more like bland jelly candy than actual mochi. Overall, the flavors were very mild, but this also meant that the chocolate wasn't too sweet. B

This Tirol was stamped with a P, perhaps for pie? I could smell the cheese and just a hint of strawberry. As you can see from the picture, this Tirol had several layers: white chocolate, an oozy, gooey strawberry gel, a soft, almost chewy cracker, and a strawberry chocolate bottom. The strawberry syrup almost tasted more like cherry hard candy to me (and was it ever sweet), but the cheese flavor in the background was nice. I have to give extra points for ambition. B+

Tirol Website

Mitarashi Dango Choco Ball

There are some Japanese sweets that are just hard to come by in other countries (unless there is a large Japanese population in the immediate area), and dango is one of them. Prepackaged dango from a store is okay, but you just can't beat the fresh stuff that you can buy at traditional sweet shops or festivals in Japan. Even making dango yourself can be a tricky venture, because you need to track down specific Japanese rice flours to get the texture just right.

Mitarashi dango are rice dumplings covered with a sweetened soy sauce glaze. The end result is a lovely mixture of sweet caramelized sugar and savory soy sauce. The closest analog to the sauce might be maple syrup, although the mitarashi sauce tends to be less sweet and more savory. Rather than being a spin on the usual Choco Ball, this variety is more of a nod to actual mitarashi dango: there is a chewy mochi-like center wrapped in flavored white chocolate. I purchased these from napaJapan right before it started to get too hot to ship chocolate.

The balls come out of Kyoro-chan's beak! Too cute.

After pulling open Kyoro-chan's beak, I was hit by a scent that reminded me of maple syrup. The white chocolate shell tasted just like it smelled, like a slightly more savory maple. It melted slowly, so when I chewed the candy, the coating stayed a bit crisp. It did taste like a very mild, sweet version of mitarashi sauce.

The chewy "mochi" center had a texture more like that of gummy candy than actual mochi. It was firm and bouncy and had almost no flavor (just a slight sweetness). Overall, the Mitarashi Dango Choco Balls were fun to eat and brought back nice memories of eating mitarashi dango. More than anything, though, these made me want the real thing.

B

Morinaga Website

Tirol Kagami Mochi

This review is about four months late, but this was such a cute promotion that I had to post it. New Year is a very important holiday in Japan, and one of the traditional decorations is called Kagami Mochi. Though they are often very elaborately decorated, the simplest form is just two stacked mochi balls, the top one smaller than the bottom, with a bitter orange on top.

The Tirol version consisted of several small Milk Mochi flavored chocolates with a large Mikan flavored chocolate on top, all encased in plastic shaped like Kagami Mochi. For some reason, Tirol felt the need to include instructions on how to pop out the Mikan piece. Before I even tasted anything, I was extremely amused by the variety of New Year-themed images on the Milk Mochi pieces. I especially liked the cute little Daruma.


Milk Mochi tasted like coconut, according to my husband. The mochi center was chewy, gummy, and slightly sweet, so it was similar to the real thing. The surrounding white chocolate, however, was a bit stiff and chalky. It wasn't too sweet, and did taste like milk or cream. My favorite part was the packaging. B-


The Mikan piece boasted real mikan flavor, and the chocolate smelled very much like oranges. I was thrilled to discover that it had a gel center. The gel was tender and chewy with a tart orange flavor, while the orange chocolate coating reminded me of sherbet. This Tirol reminded me of a punch my mom used to make for church parties (ginger ale, pineapple juice, and orange sherbet - yum). The gel had an odd sort of skin to it, but it did remind me of real fruit. This flavor was tastier than Milk Mochi, but unfortunately, there was only one Mikan in the set. A-

Tirol website

Morinaga Straberry Daifuku Hi-chew

I don't often blog about traditional Japanese snacks (known as wagashi) for a couple of reasons. First, I live in the United States and they are a bit hard to come by, and second, there's already an excellent blog for that!

Instead, I have to settle for reviewing cheaper candy based on wagashi, like these strawberry daifuku Hi-chew! The real thing is a strawberry covered in red bean past and wrapped in mochi. Here's a recipe for real strawberry daifuku, in case you can't track down the Hi-chew. The real thing is most definitely better.


There was no detectable mochi smell to these candies, just a strawberry aroma. Mochi was just barely present in the flavor, though the strawberry dominated. It was a tart, authentic strawberry, and it was quite good. As with all Hi-chew, the candies had a chewy, almost rubbery texture.

Red bean paste was completely absent from the flavor profile, but despite the failure at tasting like daifuku, it still made for a tasty strawberry candy. It's been a long time since I've had regular strawberry Hi-chew, so I can't say how it compares - I doubt there is much of a difference.

Check out another review at Tasty Japan.

B+

Morinaga website