Advent calendar, December 6th

[telophase]

Hi-Chew fruit chews. Japanese company name, but everything on the label was in English so I don't know if this is a brand well-known in Japan or not. Toby's reaction: http://myrialux.net/2014/12/06/advent-calendar-day-6/

Comments

[yhlee]

I'm almost positive I saw those for sale in Korea when I lived there.

[telophase]

Huh. I wonder if this one is made for the English-speaking market, and they make different wrappers for other markets?

[yhlee]

I have no idea!

My favorite bizarre food found in Korea is the "josseu" (pronounced something vaguely like joe-sue) popsicle bar. It is purple-grape on the outside and strawberry-magenta on the inside. It comes with a picture of a shark on the wrapper and was a delicious staple of my childhood. It wasn't until years later that I realized that "josseu" was a Koreanization of Jaws and the popsicle was constructed to resemble a shark. I wonder if they still make them. I didn't eat much in the way of sweets when I was last in Korea. :p

[telophase]

Good heavens! XD (So you can pretend to be a shark, eating a shark, I suppose!)

[yhlee]

The tragic thing is that understanding the story behind the fruit bar would have made it even more fun to eat! Alas. ^_^

[telophase]

If I ever get to Korea, I will have to look for them!

[torachan]

It's still being made and you can get it in the US! We carry it at the Japanese supermarket I work at, and I'm sure that Korean markets have it, too. It shouldn't be hard to find.

[yhlee]

I will have to see--I'm in Baton Rouge, so the Asian supermarket type options are kind of limited. Thanks!

[torachan]

Oh, I didn't realise you'd moved. I remember you lived in So Cal (you bought a light box from me once!) so I just assumed you were still here. Yeah, definitely harder to find where you are now, then. :-/

[yhlee]

I remember that! I didn't recognize this handle. I miss the food options in SoCal. :p

[torachan]

Yes, those are American Hi-Chews. Back when I first started getting into Japanese stuff, you could only get the imported ones, but a while back (I want to say somewhere between 5-10 years) they introduced it to the American market. I don't know about Texas, but here you can find Hi-Chew in any regular American supermarket in the candy section.

The Japanese ones are the same, but have more flavors. These are the "standard" flavors, but since Japan is obsessed with limited edition stuff, of course there are always a ton of new ones coming out. Sadly, it seems like most Japanese grocery stores around here (mine included) don't carry too many of the Japanese ones anymore and just focus on the American ones (which are must cheaper).

I really love Hi-Chew and consider it one of my top favorite candies. Definitely better both flavor and texture-wise than Starburst, IMO.

[lady-noremon.livejournal.com]

I miss mango Hi-Chews so much. When I was in Alberta Anime Hypercube sold them, and I ate so, so many.