Japanese(?) candy of the night: Botan Rice Candy!

[thistlechaser]

It's late, but I was cleaning my apartment and tripped over the bag o'Japanese candy (again), so decided to get another one of them out of the way. I picked a simple looking one, but there are some really interesting (and maybe yummy?) ones to do in the future.

So tonight's candy is... (drum roll) Botan Rice Candy! (Now with free children's sticker inside!) I almost suspect this is something besides Japanese, as the art style is odd. See the front? And the back? (Little blurry, sorry.) That doesn't look like Japanese to me.

Quite happily, there's a list of the ingredients! That makes my day, as (sometimes) when all the things in it are okay, it won't kill me. These have: Glucose syrup, sugar, sweet rice, water, lemon and orange flavor, and some colorings. Once I opened the box I scratched my head at there being food colorings in this, as they're rather clear... And the sticker I got is rather sucky -- a lizard of some sort riding a skateboard. (Whine! Wanted the kitty sticker!)

Oooh, photos are downloaded. Tasting is put off!

Okay, back. While these look like hard candies, they're actually very smushy. Sheesh, I wonder if they're really old or something. They're wrapped in two layers of plastic. The outer one comes off easily, but the inner one has sort of meshed with the candy itself... Having utterly failed to remove the inner plastic from that one, I'm trying a second one.

Man, this candy is determined not to be eaten by me. I finally got enough plastic off to smell it (very lemony), but even with the help of my exacto-knife, I can't get the darned plastic off enough to eat it. Trying a third one... It must be seriously old. Every time I touch the plastic it "shatters" (really, crumbles into a bunch of tiny pieces), all except where it's touching the candy. The candy is rather sticky, so the plastic remains there.

It's very vaguely the consistency of a gummy bear, so I'm just trying to pull off a little bit to taste. From what I can tell (tiny little specks of it), it seems sort of okay. Even these tiny little bits (about the size of the point of a pencil) are gluing my teeth together, so perhaps it's lucky I can't try a whole one. The flavor is hard to catch, but I'd guess slightly lemony, but also "powdery", as if it was dusted with baby powder.

After trying and failing to open the last three of them, I have to give up. For once I'm willing to try a candy, but it's not letting me! Too bad it's one of the ones that seems like it might have tasted okay (if rather sticky).

Comments

[babycakesin.livejournal.com]

okay, I have a question that's Japanese food related: have you ever tried 'natto'? I read about it somewhere (*coughs*in a manga*coughs*) and it was said that it tasted very peculiar...

[tersa.livejournal.com]

Run, don't walk, away from the natto.

I have not had it personally, but I have a friend of mine who did a year abroad in Japan. She said it was the most vile stuff she's ever eaten.

And thistle_chaser, this is one thing I'm going to advise you not even try. Me, who is trying to get you to eat 'weird food'. :)

[babycakesin.livejournal.com]

*grabs notebook and writes* must.not.eat.natto
okay, thanks, I'll keep that in mind lol

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've heard really, really bad things about natto. It's not something I want even close to my mouth. :)

[babycakesin.livejournal.com]

lol thanks for being honest!

[tersa.livejournal.com]

Well, given that your bag o' goodies has been around for a while...yes, it probably *is* old. :)

I think they sell Botan rice candy at the regular grocery store, in the Asian food section. I would get some fresh and try it instead.

And, you may also want to consider going through your bag and tossing it, depending on how long ago you bought that stuff.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hm. I had figured it was old from sitting on the store shelf, not from being around here at home... but then I hadn't thought of the heat wave we just had. That can't have been very good for the stuff. I'm not sure how long I've had the bag sitting around, seems like maybe a month or two... Could have been longer though. I know I bought it when it was really hot out.

[animarelic.livejournal.com]

Uh, the inner 'plastic' wrapping, is actually a fine sugar wrap. You -eat- that stuff. ^.^ And Botan Candy is supposed to be soft and smooshy. They put that extra wrapping there to protect your fingers before you pop it into your mouth.

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

Uh, what Maxwell said. Though for some reason I thought it was rice paper, not sure...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Awww, now I wish I had saved a piece so I could try it! That sounds like fun!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

*laughs* No way! Aw, now I wish I had saved the last piece instead of throwing it out! That would have been fun to try.

[aretina.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you've tried the tamest of the Japanese candies, muscat gummies? The Kasugi brand comes with the best paragraphs on the front. "Like the wind in the vinyard spread vast on the hill in each sweet and flavorful Kasugi Grape Gummi." "Like the rosy red cheeks of the snow country child in each sweet and flavorful Kasugi Apple Gummi." They're in the ethnic aisle of the stores here.

There's also a certain kind of gum that is heaven if you like gum at all. Can't remember the brand name but it comes in a flatpack of eight tiny boxes with four gumballs each inside. They taste almost like they're coated in yoghurt, and they come in melon, grape, orange, and strawberry. It seems that you're against the idea of going out and buying this candy for these surveys, but those two are worth it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think I have a pack like that waiting to try! Something like 'like a refreshing breeze from a small island in the Atlantic ocean' or something like that.

I don't think I've seen the gum yet, but I'll watch for it!