The happiest part of coming home from a vacation is packing back souvenirs.
In Hokkaido, these are widely available at most of their souvenir kiosks. There is one at JR Sapporo Station and if lugging is not your thing then the New Chitose Airport is a good enough bet with at least three stalls fighting for attention. Samples flow freely at these outlets and prices are fixed.
We kind of went wonky at the store - huge fan of Potato Farm by the end of the trip!
Hokkaido Potato, a premium brand under Calbee, is a must buy. Belittle these little satchets of potato sticks not - shaped, tastes and looks like a french fry! Tastes great even with ketchup; yes, I am hardcore in that sense. If french fries were this expensive, I probably think twice yet, these are french fries that will never go soggy!
12 in a large box and 6 in the smaller. These are priced differently across locations. Case in point:
JPY 1050 in a ski resort (Doh! Do not ask me why, hunger probably ruled logic)
JPY 840 in all other souvenir shops across hokkaido
JPY 800 at Narita Airport but limited to 5 boxes per passenger
I lost count of the number of boxes consumed but these are so so so so so so so amazing.
How about potato cubes? Surely they used coloured potatoes for this range and retained the overall taste though crispier and less bite. Still a fan of the sticks!
The last of the range - potato crisps with seaweed.
Crazy crunchy this is and terribly addictive. Absolutely sin food without the grease.
Then comes the parent company - Calbee and their more economical version of Hokkaido Potato. Priced at JPY 105 each or a box for JPY 640 (thereabout), these are priced lower and comes in a wider variety of flavours.
Spy them sticks?
Flavours do not differ too much from packet to packet and these tend to be crunchy with a slight greasy aftertaste. Nowhere their their famed relative and despite the savings, this is no replacement.
These large boxes of corn snacks do not come cheap - oh heck, what does in Japan anyway. JPY 1050 for 6 packets but possibly, the bestest find on the trip.
Savoury corn puffs with kernels - popcorn, never tasted this good. Not even nacho cheese garretts. No grease, no orange icky fingers, just tasty popped corn. Awesome much!
Going all pink and fancy for the girlies.
A weak attempt to overthrow Shiroi Koibito, the wafers are light and strawberry chocolate delicious but it probably works better with a cookie base.
Pure Jelly by Hori
Yubari melon flavoured jelly! This was exactly the same right till the fragrance and texture of jelly - just like a melon! I did not fancy the slight grainy texture however.
Japanese Cheese Cake Omotcheese
These were recommended to be chilled under -18 degrees. Holy cow, I doubt my fridge is half as cold as that but we braved the wintry temperatures, a domestic flight, an international one and finally the car ride home before it was snug in my fridge's coldest compartment.
This award winning cheese cake is advertised to be molten in the sense of a easily malleable and teas-able cheese cube. Mild cheese taste with hardly any of the fluff or moistness that the American big brother would have, this was compact, chewy and a different kind of cheesecake. After all that hassle, it could have just passed off as a cheese mochi and I would have been more convinced.
We kind of went wonky at the store - huge fan of Potato Farm by the end of the trip!
Hokkaido Potato, a premium brand under Calbee, is a must buy. Belittle these little satchets of potato sticks not - shaped, tastes and looks like a french fry! Tastes great even with ketchup; yes, I am hardcore in that sense. If french fries were this expensive, I probably think twice yet, these are french fries that will never go soggy!
12 in a large box and 6 in the smaller. These are priced differently across locations. Case in point:
JPY 1050 in a ski resort (Doh! Do not ask me why, hunger probably ruled logic)
JPY 840 in all other souvenir shops across hokkaido
JPY 800 at Narita Airport but limited to 5 boxes per passenger
I lost count of the number of boxes consumed but these are so so so so so so so amazing.
How about potato cubes? Surely they used coloured potatoes for this range and retained the overall taste though crispier and less bite. Still a fan of the sticks!
The last of the range - potato crisps with seaweed.
Crazy crunchy this is and terribly addictive. Absolutely sin food without the grease.
Then comes the parent company - Calbee and their more economical version of Hokkaido Potato. Priced at JPY 105 each or a box for JPY 640 (thereabout), these are priced lower and comes in a wider variety of flavours.
Spy them sticks?
Flavours do not differ too much from packet to packet and these tend to be crunchy with a slight greasy aftertaste. Nowhere their their famed relative and despite the savings, this is no replacement.
These large boxes of corn snacks do not come cheap - oh heck, what does in Japan anyway. JPY 1050 for 6 packets but possibly, the bestest find on the trip.
Savoury corn puffs with kernels - popcorn, never tasted this good. Not even nacho cheese garretts. No grease, no orange icky fingers, just tasty popped corn. Awesome much!
Going all pink and fancy for the girlies.
A weak attempt to overthrow Shiroi Koibito, the wafers are light and strawberry chocolate delicious but it probably works better with a cookie base.
Pure Jelly by Hori
Yubari melon flavoured jelly! This was exactly the same right till the fragrance and texture of jelly - just like a melon! I did not fancy the slight grainy texture however.
Japanese Cheese Cake Omotcheese
These were recommended to be chilled under -18 degrees. Holy cow, I doubt my fridge is half as cold as that but we braved the wintry temperatures, a domestic flight, an international one and finally the car ride home before it was snug in my fridge's coldest compartment.
This award winning cheese cake is advertised to be molten in the sense of a easily malleable and teas-able cheese cube. Mild cheese taste with hardly any of the fluff or moistness that the American big brother would have, this was compact, chewy and a different kind of cheesecake. After all that hassle, it could have just passed off as a cheese mochi and I would have been more convinced.
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