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Universal Yums: South Korea!
Churroz Snack – Bite-sized, churro-shaped fried crackers with cinnamon sugar. (Shockingly close to what they claim to be, actually.) I thought these were really fun. ARR didn’t like them, which I didn’t expect, though I think he was caught off-guard by a cinnamon taste in something chip-like.
Strawberry Gummies – Higher-quality, slightly sour strawberry gummies. Not much else particularly noteworthy about them?
Spicy Chicken Corn Puffs – These are fascinating. They’re corn puffs, just like crunchy Cheetos. But they’re coated with a spicy honey-glaze like Korean fried chicken, and there’s definitely some chicken bullion flavoring in there, too. Jethrien really liked these; ARR declined to try them on spiciness grounds.
Banana Choco Pie – This is a Mallomar variant, with two soft cookies (banana flavored), marshmallow in between, and a thin coating of chocolate on the whole thing. First and foremost, there isn’t enough chocolate; you can’t even taste it. Second, given the lack of structural chocolate, the cookies are too crumbly. And third, the artificial banana flavoring is pretty powerful. I don’t think they were bad, but I don’t think they improved upon a Mallomar in any appreciable way.
Pepero Crunchy – Korean-style pocky, cookie sticks coated in chocolate and, in this case, the little rice crunchies like those in a Nestle Crunch bar. (The cookie stick is actually not very sweet at all and has a mild sesame flavor to it.) I enjoyed this as a variant of pocky.
Sour Grape Chews – The imitation grape flavor in these is stronger and closer to Concord grape than most American imitation grape flavor. (Apparently actual grapes were harmed in making it!) They’re a soft chewy candy similar to a tootsie roll, though the packaging looks like bubble gum and I wasn’t certain until they dissolved that they weren’t gum.
Overall: The fried chicken corn puffs were the winner for most interesting and different, but nothing in this box was bad. I wonder how many of these things (or close variations) I can find at my local 99 Ranch.
Strawberry Gummies – Higher-quality, slightly sour strawberry gummies. Not much else particularly noteworthy about them?
Spicy Chicken Corn Puffs – These are fascinating. They’re corn puffs, just like crunchy Cheetos. But they’re coated with a spicy honey-glaze like Korean fried chicken, and there’s definitely some chicken bullion flavoring in there, too. Jethrien really liked these; ARR declined to try them on spiciness grounds.
Banana Choco Pie – This is a Mallomar variant, with two soft cookies (banana flavored), marshmallow in between, and a thin coating of chocolate on the whole thing. First and foremost, there isn’t enough chocolate; you can’t even taste it. Second, given the lack of structural chocolate, the cookies are too crumbly. And third, the artificial banana flavoring is pretty powerful. I don’t think they were bad, but I don’t think they improved upon a Mallomar in any appreciable way.
Pepero Crunchy – Korean-style pocky, cookie sticks coated in chocolate and, in this case, the little rice crunchies like those in a Nestle Crunch bar. (The cookie stick is actually not very sweet at all and has a mild sesame flavor to it.) I enjoyed this as a variant of pocky.
Sour Grape Chews – The imitation grape flavor in these is stronger and closer to Concord grape than most American imitation grape flavor. (Apparently actual grapes were harmed in making it!) They’re a soft chewy candy similar to a tootsie roll, though the packaging looks like bubble gum and I wasn’t certain until they dissolved that they weren’t gum.
Overall: The fried chicken corn puffs were the winner for most interesting and different, but nothing in this box was bad. I wonder how many of these things (or close variations) I can find at my local 99 Ranch.