Japanese candy and snacks are also popular across Southeast Asia.
But as well as the already-famous matcha-flavored ones, there are lots of other different Japanese-flavored snacks.
I’m going to be introducing some of the ones that are easily available at supermarkets!
I know I started off by saying “there’s much more than just matcha,” but there was no way I could leave it out, after all!
The chocolates in this photo are made with ground tea leaves grown in Uji in Kyoto, an area famous for its matcha.
The matcha chocolate is coated with bitter, dark chocolate, making for a very grown-up snack.
Isn’t the beautiful matcha-colored packaging great, too?
Next up is kinako.
Kinako is a powder made from roasted and ground soybeans, which is mainly used in traditional Japanese confectioneries.
It has a great aroma and goes really well with sweet things.
The biscuits in the photo are coated with kinako chocolate.
Next is adzuki. Adzuki is a type of bean that’s been used in Japan since ancient times.
Anko (adzuki bean paste cooked together with sugar) is used in a lot of traditional Japanese confectionery.
Shown in the photo are caramel candies made using adzuki beans.
I hear that Morinaga’s Milk Caramels are popular all across Southeast Asia, too.
You should definitely give this adzuki-flavored version a try!
Next up is wasabi! Wasabi is a Japanese spice; it’s a root vegetable that grows naturally in places with pure water.
It’s used in sushi and stuff, too, so I’m sure lots of you will know it already.
It’s used in a lot of Japanese food for the sharp kick it gives.
Shown in the photo are wasabi-flavored potato chips.
They’re not that spicy, but they’ve really got that unique wasabi flavor.
Next is ume, a type of sour apricot.
Japanese people love these, too!
Particularly Japanese are umeboshi (pickled ume).
The “Hachimitsu Ume” in the photo are umeboshi that have been sweetened with honey.
They’re much easier to eat than regular umeboshi, so give them a try even if you’re not a big fan of sour things!
Last but not least is yuzu, a type of citrus fruit that Japan is the world’s number one producer and consumer of.
The flesh is used to make fruit juice and so forth, but the candies in the photo are made from the peel, which has been dried and then coated in sugar.
These delicious candies really bring out the natural flavor of the peel.
They’d go great with green tea!
If you have a look in supermarkets, convenience stores, and other stores like Don Quijote, you’re bound to find plenty of uniquely Japanese snacks and candy.
They’re pretty tasty for the price, so make for easy souvenirs.
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