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Amazake KitKat Review

Kitkat Flavours Variant Photo

Hello! My name is Yen 🙂 And I’m Kanji Guy’s little sister!

Every time my husband (Ton) and I go to Japan, we always get Kit Kats in different flavours. To be honest, finding Kit Kats feels like doing Easter Egg Hunt around Japan as we would just randomly spot different flavours in different prefectures. My top favorited flavours before the recent trip were Rum & Raisin and Sake. Both can be found in Tokyo. I quite like the slight alcohol tang into these flavours. I don’t actually like Sake the drink, but I do love Rum & Raisin ice cream growing up!! I thought these 2 flavours couldn’t be defeated until..

I got to Hakata. At one of the underground food hall (where you can buy heaps of food souvenirs/ omiyage), I found a bag of a flavour I hadn’t tried before.. Amazake!!! I was ecstatic! 

Amazake KitKat photo

Amazake (甘酒)  is a fermented Japanese rice drink. Amazake literally means sweet (甘) sake (酒). This drink can be either made low alcohol or non alcohol. Low alcohol version (around 8%) is made with sake lees, steamed rice, and water. Whereas the non alcohol version is made with steamed rice, water, rice koji (rice that’s covered by koji mold/ fungus, a certain mold contained in miso, soy sauce, or sake). Non alcohol Amazake is usually served during Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival held annually on March 3) as children, pregnant mums can safely consume the non alcohol version. Sometimes, amazake is topped with shredded ginger. It’s a perfect warm drink for cold weather!! 

Amazake in the snow photo Amazake KitKat Comparison Photo

When we were in Shirokawa-go in December and it was freezing -6 degree Celsius, there was this tiny kiosk that sells some rice cakes and home-made amazake. I think I had about 3 cups of Amazake! I kept on going back for more. I even bought some instant amazake sachets, but I’m keeping these precious until winter hits Sydney (can you see me hugging the packets and hear me scream “MY PRECIOUSSS” in croaky voice?)

Now, back to the Kit Kats!!

Amazake KitKat Outer Packaging Photo

Tha packaging gives an expensive feel, you see, gold foil and that steaming amazake picture.. Mmm~!

The inside is quite similar to that of Rum & Raisin and Sake : White chocolate covered wafers with the normal Kit Kat logo.Amazake KitKat Inside Packaging Photo

Amazake KitKat Taste Photo

But the flavour.. BOOM! Whilst slightly similar to the Sake flavour, it has that zing of sweetness of fermented rice smell. I really like it!! Hands down the best kitkats for me! If you are not a ginger fan, don’t worry, these Kit Kats has no hint of ginger flavour at all. 

This bag of 11 mini packets costs about 500yen. It’s a reasonable price 🙂 

Whilst Amazake is great for winter, Amazake Kit Kats is perfect for any type of weather! Even for Sydney’s autumn (that feels like summer at the moment)!

Ja mata!　じゃ、またね！

– Yen

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Tokyo Banana KitKat Review

My friend who recently came back from Japan somehow managed to brought back this goodies! Tokyo Banana KitKat! The queue in Tokyo Station is very very long, you need to expect a 20-30 minutes wait, however the store does have plenty of supplies for everyone.

Tokyo Banana Kitkat Photo

The packaging Design is really well done, it prominently features Tokyo Banana illustration in front of the KitKat packaging.

Tokyo Banana Kitkat Photo Tokyo Banana Kitkat Photo

The inside of the Tokyo Banana KitKat is slightly different from a normal KitKat, usually a KitKat won’t have a joined section on the side. My guess is that they’re trying to give a space for the Tokyo Banana Silhouette. It looks pretty cute though, it’s almost too good to be eaten.

Tokyo Banana Kitkat Photo

But alas, with any KitKat, you need to break it to have a KitKat. So here you go, I broke it in half.

Taste wise the Tokyo Banana KitKat is pretty delicious, there is definitely a strong banana flavour that reminds you’re eating a Tokyo Banana version KitKat. Maybe we should compare it with normal Banana KitKat to get a clearer comparison.

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Fancy Tokyo Banana and KitKat? Why Not Eat Both at The Same Time?

If you have been to Tokyo, Japan you must have heard about Tokyo Banana, the must buy souvenir banana flavoured soft cake from Tokyo. Also if you have been to Japan, you must have heard that you need to get fancy flavoured KitKat to buy as souvenir back in your home country. Now you can get the best of both as Nestle Japan just released a new product, KitKat with Tokyo Banana Flavour!

It’s a perfect Omiyage to buy whenever you come back from Tokyo or when you visit someone that’s not from Tokyo

A bix filled with 8 of these goodness sweet will set you back 702¥ (before tax). While the 15 pieces box will set you back 1296¥.

Tokyo Banana Price

You can find them in the Tokyo Okashi Land.

Tokyo Banana Map Tokyo Okashi Land

Nestle Japan even went out of their way to create a short video that explains the origin of this fantastic product.

Source: Nestle Japan

Tokyo Banana

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Only in Japan ~ KFC Bath Salt

Who wouldn’t want to know the Colonel’s secret recipes? His secret recipes makes everyone keeps coming back for the delicious tasty and crispy fried chicken. There are that times when you pass by KFC’s store and you can smell the tasty smell of the famous southern fried chicken. Now, you don’t need to pass by their store just to get a whiff of it! Village Vanguard has done a collaboration to make KFC scented Bath Salt!!. Village Vanguard, a japanese store which is famous for their novelty items collaborated with KFC to make this Japan only available bath salt.

The bath salt is shaped like a drumstick and it’s even wrapped in aluminium foil, a KFC Japan only tradition so that your hand won’t be dirty when you eat it!KFC bath salt village vanguard

 

To be able to get it you need to follow their official Twitter account @ KFC_jp, and if you’re one of the 100 lucky people, you will get this special item!

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Gudetama Cafe and Mother Dish

Gudetama Cafe has just opened at Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Now if you know Gudetama, then you must know that it is a cute egg who is very lazy. Now it has it’s own cafe where all of the food has itself as it’s main theme. One of their main dish is actually pretty dark.

Gudetama Crying over Mother Dish Roast Chicken

The name of the dish is:
Okaasan…(Maybe not) with White Stroganoff Sauce
お母さん…(かもしれない）白ストロガノフ

It features a roast chicken leg with the famous Gudetama character next to it crying over the (maybe not) his dead mother.

It’s actually similar to a traditional dish Oyakodon where you serve egg and chicken on top of a rice. The dish name is literally parent (oya 親) and child (ko子).

deliciou japanese oyakodon parent and child chicken egg rice

If you have the heart to consume this Okaasan Gudetama meal, this meal will cost you around 1,290¥ (before tax).

Source: Gudetama Cafe

Picture: Pakutaso

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Where to find Onigiri in Sydney

Sydney tuna mayonnaise onigiri

Onigiri or also known as omusubi or rice ball, is a Japanese staple food made from white rice formed into triangular and wrapped in nori. You can find it everywhere in Japan as this is a very typical food for Japanese. In every convenience store you can find Onigiri-s being stacked and they are also very cheap!

It’s hard to find one in Sydney though, except in one place, Conveni8! Conveni8 is a Japanese convenience store located very close to Town Hall. They’re a bit hidden though so not many people know where it is.

You can use this map to find Conveni8.

They sell lots of different Japanese snacks and most importantly, Onigiri!
The price for the Onigiri are relatively pretty cheap, especially for Sydney standard, a Tuna Mayonnaise Onigiri will set you back $1.5 AUD (130¥). A bite of these and you’ll soon feel like you’re back in Japan! 🙂