My friend, Hiromi, whom I had met through a language app in 2018, and met in person when I visited Gunma in 2019, and who visited me in Cebu is 2020, sent me a box of Japanese snacks.
What I did not expect was for the parcel to be so big—she had sent about 40 kinds of snacks! So many! What should I eat first? Easy. By expiration date! There were three that were already past their expiration date (April), but we (my family and I) still ate them.
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Mochi Taro 餅太郎
This one is somewhat like rice crackers with a light taste and has bits of peanuts.
★★★★
Cut Yotchan (White) カットよっちゃん (しろ)
This is a squid snack flavored with vinegar. It was very sour!
★★
Apparently, it is a popular dagashi (small and cheap Japanese snacks ranging from 10 yen to 100 yen).
Which reminds me—another friend, Yumiko, brought me to visit a dagashiya (shop selling dagashi) in Kawagoe in 2019.
Ama Ika Taro 甘いか太郎
This is sweet and salty squid in kimchi flavor.
★★★
Fried Potato フライドポテト
Lightly salty French fries-shaped snack.
★★
駄菓子屋さんのカレー
This is a curry flavored snack. I like Japanese curry! I could not stop eating this.
★★★★
Komusubi Arare 小結あられ
Arare are rice snacks/crackers that go well with drinks (or so the Japanese say).
This snack is slightly salty.
Hiromi says this one is a hineri-age or twisted fried snack.
With or without drinks, it disappeared in our tummies in a flash.
★★★★★
Happy Turn ハッピーターン
Happy Turn are crunchy rice crackers coated with sweet buttery powder. This variety has 150% more powder! My first taste of this snack was maybe three years ago, when my Japanese coworker gave us a pack of Happy Turn original flavor (100% powder). It was so good that I hunted it down it when I visited Japan in autumn of 2019. So happy that Hiromi sent me a pack of Happy Turn. I miss this rice cracker!
★★★★★
Ika Mirin いかみりん
Ika Mirin are crunchy squid crackers seasoned with mirin so it is slightly sweet.
Really addicting! I could not stop eating this!
★★★★★