Japanese Snacks

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.

The parcel arrived in the Philippines three days after Hiromi dropped it off at their post office, but it took more than a month from arriving in my country to get to me! Hiromi was worried that some of it might have expired!

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.

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!

★★★★★

Cabbage Taro キャベツ太郎

An okonomiyaki flavored puffed corn snack.

The flavor, which was okonimayaki, wasn't anything special or memorable.

★

Sakura Daikon さくら大根

This is radish (daikon) fermented in plum, resulting in its pink color (I am guessing that's where the "sakura" comes in). This is quite sour (as one would expect from a pickles) but crunchy. Pretty good if you like pickled veggies.

★★★

Sumomo (Plum) すもも

These pickled plums looked so cute. The taste reminded me of Chinese pickles

we used to eat when we were young.

★★★

Edo Dagashi Fugashi 江戸駄菓子ふ菓子

The texture reminded me of Moby (a Filipino snack). The taste was very very very sweet! 

★

Mugen Ebi 無限エビ

Shrimp flavored rice crackers. It tastes light and not too salty.

★★★★

Cheese Arare チーズあられ

Did not taste like cheese to me. Thus, the one star.

★

Kameda no Kaki no Tane Noko Ume Zarame 亀田の柿の種 濃厚梅ざらめ

Plum flavored rice crackers with peanuts. This is sweet and salty.

This is the first time I have tried the plum variety.

(I often buy the original flavor since it is available in my local supermarket.)

★★★

Koikeya Pride Potato (Setouchi Lemon) 湖池屋プライドポテト (凛凛レモン)

Potato chips flavored with vinegar and lemon. It actually tasted like a milder Lays Salt and Vinegar.

★★★

Sudako-san Taro 酢だこさん太郎

Made with fish paste and squid and flavored with vinegar. Quite sour. Obviously.

★★★

Kabayaki-san Taro 蒲焼さん太郎

Made with fish and squid, and flavored like kabayaki (how they grill eel). It has a slight spice. Really good!

★★★★★

Kappa Ebisen かっぱえびせん

This is like a lighter/less saltier version of our local junkfood, Oishi Prawn Crackers.

★★★

Potato Fry (Fried Chicken Flavor) ポテトフライ フライドチキン味

Fried chicken flavored potato chips. Tasty.

★★★

Mocchan Dango もっちゃんだんご

Soft and chewy mochi (rice cake) in three colors and lightly coated in sugar. Each color is a different flavor. I liked the pink and green ones. But I could do without the sugar.

★★★

Cratz Pepper Bacon Flavor

Pepper bacon flavored pretzels with almonds. As you can see on its packaging, it is meant to be paired with beer. But even without beer, it's really good. And addicting! This is a Glico product. One can never go wrong with Glico products. Yum!

★★★★★

Mini Lumonde (Caramel) ミニルマンド

Crepe cookies coated in caramel cream. I love the crunch and the taste, but I prefer the cocoa cream flavor. (Whenever I visit Japan, I would be sure to buy a pack of the cocoa cream flavor.)

★★★★

Pie no Mi パイの実

These are mini dark chocolate pies. Mini as in 1-inch diameter crunchy, crumbly, flaky dark chocolate pies. I was expecting it to be bigger, like 3 inches in diameter. But once I tried it, I could say it was a good decision that they had it in a small, pop-in-your-mouth size, because I think it would be messy to have it in big sizes as these are crumbly, flaky pies. I prefer milk chocolate that dark chocolate, thus the three stars.

★★★

Mala Peanuts 麻ピー

These are peanuts cooked in mala oil. It has bits of peppercorn and chilli too. And as the design packaging shows, it is indeed very spicy! One star because it is too spicy for me!

★

Konjac Jellyこんにゃくゼリー

These are jellies in stick form. The green one is green apple flavor, and the pink one is strawberry.

This brought back memories of my elementary years when we'd eat Jelly Ace.

This one is less messy to eat as it did not have too much juice compared to Jelly Ace.

And it was more firm too.

★★★★

Amijaga (Sour Cream and Onion) あみじゃが (サワークリーム＆オニオン味)

Sour cream and onion flavored potato snack. These are thick and cruchy. Very addicting! I consumed one bag in one sitting! Yikes!

★★★★★

Candy Box キャンディーボックス

These are small mochi candies. Each color is a different fruit flavor. These are not too sweet.

★★★

Takenoko no Sato たけのこの里

Crumbly cookie cone covered in chocolate and shaped like bamboo shoots (takenoko).

I like Japanese chocolates because they are not too sweet, but I am not fan of the cookie part of this though. I prefer its mushroom counterpart—Kinoko no yama きのこの山 (mountain mushroom).

★★★

Sapporo Potato BBQ サッポロポテト バーベQあじ

Chicken and beef barbecue flavored potato snack. Very junk-foody, if there's such a word!

★★★

Jari mameじゃり豆

Made with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and almonds, covered in batter and baked. No oil!

Love this light, crunchy snack.

★★★★★

Fue Ramune Budou コリス フエラムネぶどう

Grape (budou) flavored whistle candy. When you blow through the hole in the candy it makes a whistling sound. The candy easily crumbles so you can probably just do the whistling once. Haha.

★★★

Watagashi わたがし

White cotton candy. Tastes like what cotton candy should taste like.

★★★

Mini Assortment ミニアソート

This set includes small boxes of candy. From left to right: yogurt candy, fruit jellybeans (raspberry, green apple, lemon, and grape), drink flavored jellybeans (cola, raspberry juice, lemon sukasshu squash, cider), lemon candy, and chocolate. The candies are too sweet. I liked the chocolate.

★★

Ninjin にんじん

Puffed rice snack in a carrot-shaped packaging. Looks really cute, but tastes meh.

★

Soy Happy with Happy Soy

I like taho—sweet silken tofu with syrup and tapioca balls peddled on the street in the morning. But, even before this whole covid mess, I rarely got to drink (or is it eat?) taho because I was seldom out on the street early. Now that covid has kept me in the house most of the time, the chances of finding taho was very slim. Until I saw a friend's facebook story of taho and we got a taho conversation rolling which led to her suggesting I try Happy Soy for the reason that it was located in my city (Mandaue City). (In other words, the delivery fee won't, hopefully, be more than the taho itself. She herself hadn't tried Happy Soy!)

Taho peddled on the street can be had for 5 or 10 pesos a cup. A very small cup. Happy Soy's classic taho costs Php 60, are in 12 oz cups, and organic to boot! The dark brown sugar syrup is not too sweet, the taho oh so silky.

Classic taho in a 12 oz. cup

They also sell taho in even bigger servings. A 900-gram tub (good for 5-6 persons) of classic taho costs Php300. It includes a 330ml bottle of dark brown sugar syrup and 12 oz. cup of sago. Plus a free 12 oz. cup of good-to-go taho. 900 grams not enough for you? They also have a bucket of taho good for 8 to 10 persons for Php450!

900-gram tub of taho and a free 12 oz good-to-go taho

Happy Soy also has taho in other syrup flavors for Php 70 per 12 oz. cup. The syrup flavors are strawberry, blueberry, banana, and wintermelon. (I have yet to try these.)

The shelf life of Happy Soy's taho is one week (in chiller). But, I don't think you have to worry about that, because I guarantee, a tub won't last a day. Case in point: My family and I consumed three tubs of taho in less than three days! It was so good!!

QuaranEats: Pater Boy

Pater is a Maranao dish of rice topped with chicken, beef, or tuna, and eaten with palapa (a very spicy condiment made with scallions, ginger, and chili). The first and only time I ate pater was when I visited Iligan in 2014.  But I never forgot how good it was that I would always be on the look out for it in Cebu. I don't know how long Pater Boy has been serving the Maranao dish, but I only discovered them while hiding from this pesky corona virus.

Clockwise from top: tuna, beef, chicken

Pater Boy's menu is very simple. Just three kinds of pater (chicken, beef, tuna; Php 40 each) and palapa (Php 95 for a 118 ml jar). The pater comes with a serving of palapa. The pater looks small, but my eyes are bigger than my stomach. One serving was actually enough for me. My mouth wanted more, my stomach said stop. (Warning! Eating pater with palapa will make you want to eat more!) I have always been partial to chicken so if you ask me which of the three I prefer, you know the answer.

Pater Boy has three branches: J. Urgello Street, Leon Kilat Street, and in Bacayan (Talamban). You can go to any of these branches or have it delivered—send them a message in their facebook pages: Pater Boy / Pater Boy Talamban. Delivery is through a third-party service, so there is a separate delivery fee. For deliveries, they accept cash on delivery or payment through bank transfer (BDO) or GCash.

QuaranEats: Indonesian Food by MitaBelle

During the community quarantine, I traveled to Indonesia without ever going out of my house. I traveled through my tastebuds!

I found Indonesian food by MitaBelle's New Cuisine through a facebook group. On the menu are three kinds of boxed meals, two types of desserts (the other, not mentioned in the photo below since it is a new offering, is Nastar, which are pineapple tarts—Php 100 for 20 pieces), and party trays.

We tried the boxed meals and desserts. Each of the boxed meals included yellow rice, mie goreng, and vegetables. The shrimp and tofu boxed meal came with a potato fritter, while the beef and chicken came with sambal (chili sauce). Of the three, I liked the shrimp and tofu best! I also liked the sambal and mie goreng. My brother deems these boxed meals worthy of its price! For dessert, we tried the nastar and dadar gulung. Nastar are delectable one-inch pineapple tart balls. I could eat the pack of 20 pieces in one sitting! Dadar gulung are pandan crepe with sweet coconut inside. The sweet coconut stuffing is just like our bukayo.

Top, left to right: Nasi Kotak Shrimp and Tofu, Nasi Kotak Chicken

Bottom, left to right: Nastar, Nasi Kotak Beef, Dadar Gulung

If you're craving for Indonesian food, contact Mita Fatmarasi through facebook messenger. One day advance notice is required for orders. The orders can be picked up near Sunny Hills/Gaisano Grandmall in Talamban, or you can have it delivered through Maxim or Grab (Mita will arrange the delivery). Mita accepts payments through BPI or cash on delivery. Happy travels (through tastebuds)!

QuaranEats: Lucas Homemade Ice Cream

My mother, who is very picky with her food, approves of Lucas Homemade Ice Cream. She especially loves the Dutch with Cashew. I liked both Dutch with Cashew and Blueberry Yogurt. It's so good, it's bad—very bad for our blood sugar! Hahaha!! 

Dutch with Cashew (left) and Blueberry Yogurt (right)

This very smooth and creamy ice cream is made with love in a Talisay home. People with a sweet tooth from the north (Mandaue, Lapu-lapu, etc) will definitely think the delivery fee might cost more than the ice cream. But, no need to worry about the delivery fee, it can be delivered from Cebu IT Park!

Ordering was very easy: I just sent a message on facebook, paid online (through BPI or GCash), and my tubs of Dutch with Cashew and Blueberry Yogurt Lucas Homemade Ice Cream were delivered to my doorstep the very next day (I paid the delivery fee in cash since it was delivered by a third-party).

There are almost a dozen flavors to choose from. Now which flavors should I try next?

QuaranEats: GenRis

Well, well, well. This community quarantine, imposed since the end of March 2020, sure brought out the cooks, bakers, gardeners, crafters, etc. in us. Or at least most of us—not me: I have no talent for cooking, baking, gardening, DIY-ing. I only have a talent for eating. Eating good food. And good food is meant to be shared. If not physically, then the good news of good food.

GenRis's brownies and egg pie

And here's the good news for your sweet tooth: GenRis makes very soft, chocolatey, melts-in-your-mouth brownies (box of 25 for Php 380) and fluffy, not-too-sweet, you-know-they're-not-scrimping-on-eggs egg pies (Php 350). And that's just among other dessert stuff from their menu. (I only tried these two, so these two are the only ones getting the special mention.)

Head on over to GenRis's facebook page to check out what other goodies they have. And to place your order, of course!

This is not a sponsored post. Good food is just worth writing and telling friends about.

QuaranEats: PANdemic Bakery

A photo of sourdough on my facebook feed. Then a hazy memory of some restaurant forms in my brain, but I can't pinpoint where that restaurant was and what events took place on that day. What I do remember is that I enjoyed that slice of sourdough in that forgotten-restaurant.

The longer I look at the photo on my fb feed, the more I want to eat sourdough. Yes, facebook posts do work as advertising. Especially on hungry people like me who scroll away time on fb.

Sourdough

The post for sourdough for sale was by PANdemic Bakery. A bakeshop with a pun-ny name. Sounds like my kind of bakeshop.

Since they are based in Liloan, I went on a bit of shopping spree to make the most of the delivery fee. I ordered a large sourdough (Php 150), meat rolls (Php 25/piece), emapanadas (Php 20/piece), and ubedesals (Php 15/piece).

Empanada

Everything was so good! The sourdough was so soft inside that my father and I could not stop eating it. The empanadas and meatrolls so stuffed, and the ubedesals oozing with ube halaya and cheese! This bakeshop does not hold back on their stuffings.

PANdemic Bakery. A bakeshop with a pun-ny name. And delicious baked goodies. My kind of bakeshop indeed.

PS. Photos grabbed from PANdemic Bakery's facebook page. Because I had chomped through my hoard before I remembered to take photos.

QuaranEats: Cole's Cansi

Thanks to facebook and local fb groups, my family and I discovered some difficult-to-find eats. First find was Yogh!'s Greek yogurt. Next find was Cole's Cansi.

Cansi is a Bacolod dish which is kind of a cross between pochero and sinigang. I always make a point to eat cansi when in Bacolod because I could never find one as good in Cebu. It was only by staying home (community quarantine!) that I found one in Cebu.

Since I could not travel to Bacolod, Cole's brought Bacolod to the dining table. Mmmm...tender beef, sour soup, cholesterol bone marrow goodness! One serving (Php 350) is good for two to three persons. Or one very hungry Mustachio. Just kidding. I shared it with my siblings for lunch, and found out we wanted more! We immediately ordered another one for dinner.

QuaranEats: Yogh!

Photo grabbed from Yogh!'s facebook page

I love Greek yoghurt. But I don't love that it's difficult to come by in Cebu. And when it does become available in the supermarket, it is too expensive.

When I came across Yogh!'s post on facebook, Cebu City was still on ECQ, and delivery between cities wasn't available. Sad. But, as luck would have it, weeks later (at this time delivery service between cities has resumed), the owner bought something from my sister and gave her a tub of Greek yoghurt for free! (First time I heard of a buyer giving a seller something for free, but I'm not complaining.)

Finally, real Greek yoghurt in Cebu City! Oh, so good! My bad, I didn't have a wide selection of fruits in my fridge. You know, to add to my Greek yoghurt. But, it was just as good plain!

Greek yoghurt:
1kg Php 500
500g Php 300
250g Php 150

Yogh! also offers babaganoush, hummus, labneh, and yoghurt parfaits. Orders can be placed through their facebook page or through their online store. (This is not a sponsored post. I wanted to write about this so I will not forget that there is real Greek yoghurt in Cebu.)