Monday Munchies: Japan’s Kooky Candy

These bites will turn your sweet tooth on its head.

Japanese Kit Kats – “What’s so special about Kit-Kats?” you may be asking. Well, a lot, if you happen to live in Japan. Kit Kat consumption is basically a national pastime and for good reason: there is a seemingly endless variety of flavors and “special edition” Kit Kats on Japanese shelves. The odd offerings include flavors such as strawberry, pear, soybean, sweet potato, green tea (the perennial favorite) and even wasabi! Give us a break…

Takoyaki Drops – Hard candies are not just for the elderly, but this fried octopus-flavored treat is definitely a uniquely Japanese snack. While takoyaki is a popular culinary delight, we’re not sure a mayonnaise and octopus-flavored sucking candy will pass muster with Western mouths. But, then again, we created the Doritos Locos Taco, so anything’s possible.

Sweet Corn and Soy Sauce Drops – This one we might be able to mess with. Like the aforementioned takoyaki drops, these traditional hard candies (a.k.a. Sakuma drops) come in a very untraditional flavor: sweet grilled corn with soy sauce. It’s like a picnic in your mouth! Just watch out for ants. 

Every Burger Imaginable – A bourbon-flavored chocolate cookie that comes in the shape of a mini hamburger? Makes sense. This isn’t the only saccharine slider in the candy game as there are gummy burgers and even a line of burger-shaped hard candy. Finally, there’s something that both vegetarians and carnivores can agree on.

Grilled Lamb Caramels – They’re grilled. There’s at least some part of a lamb inside them. They taste like caramel. Other then that, we’re as terrified of these things as you are.

Coffee Chewing Gum – Because nothing beats the smell of coffee breath better than coffee-breath-flavored candy. This gum is definitely for those with a discerning palate…or an intense caffeine addiction.

Ika – Maybe it’s called “Ika” because calling it chocolate-covered dried squid might not be the most appetizing thing in the world. Or maybe not – the candy is a staple of Japanese convenience stores. Like the old saying goes, “One man’s old dried squid is another man’s tasty chocolate-coated snack.”

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