Sweets are a good gauge of any country's soul. They tell you a lot about the people and their tastes.
When my son was working in Singapore recently, he wisely returned with a selection of Japanese sweets and snacks that were 'very interesting'. The three large packs are Strawberry, Melon, and Mixed 'fruit gums'. Very nice (even though I don't really eat sweets).
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But the most interesting however were the two small packs at the bottom of the picture. One was a strange Peach-flavoured jelly that one squeezes out into your mouth like clear pale-pink Silicone from a tube. The other was a tiny pack of rather sweet preserved Pork (below). Both were quite a revelation. Wonderful things to have in your pocket at all times.
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Knowing the Japanese penchant for hard work, I quite expect they were designed to keep Japanese office workers happily at their desks well into the night.
23 comments:
It's always interesting to see what other cultures eat. Good of your son to bring back these samples.
I used to love wandering around supermarkets in foreign lands, once upon a time
Oh. So much sugar. Are you bouncing off the ceiling yet?
Foreign Supermarkets are always far more interesting than the tourist shops. They're usually the first thing I head for!
I've resisted so far. A couple of Wine Gums a day is enough to keep my feet on the ground... JUST!
I think I would like the preserved pork. Not sure about the peach jelly, especially if it had the texture of silicone.
The Peach Jelly had a strange texture, and was a bit bland. The tiny Pork snacks were delicious; but maybe a tad too sweet.
Is that the human form of the treats that humans hide in their pockets to feed to dogs and cats?
My friend lived in China for two years. She said that shopping was a nightmare because she could not tell what she was buying. I said I thought Chinese supermarket would be fun and would make it easy. Not so she said. No English speakers in Kunming and no helpful people.
It's not unlike the sticky Pork ribs you buy from your local Chinese takeaway; only miniaturised.
I have noticed that in a local Chinese mini-market, very few things have translated labelling. If the pictures are descriptive of the contents; OK. But often they're not.
In the depths of China in Kunming no English langauge anywhere. No pictures on cans.
I worked for a Japanese company. I don't remember sweets but I do remember a sweet, sliceable jelly with water chestnuts in.
That sounds almost as peculiar as one of the 'jelly sweets' I tasted. It was half vegetable, half sweet. Very odd.
I would be concerned about the preservatives used in packaged snacking foods from Japan or China. That said, I would not eat street food in these countries. Yet, my son loved street food in China.
It is interesting to see snack food from other countries. In Korea there was a flattened, seasoned fish which was eaten like a cracker. I did not like it.
My first thought was, yuck! I'm not a big candy fan now that I'm all "grown up'. I prefer my sugar in a bowl of ice cream or a big slab of chocolate cheesecake.
I've always believed that street food in China, Singapore, or Korea, is amongst the safest. All is fresh, and if it's not up to scratch the locals wouldn't touch it, and they'd go bust.
People say it's impossible to eat badly in Korea, but maybe you found the exception!
I'd certainly join you with a slice of Cheesecake. I'll leave the sweets for others.
Silk worm larva soup was something I could not bring myself to eat.
I was just wondering if it was OK to bring the preserved pork into the country ? I’m just going by those Anything to Declare programmes ! Only because I’m a wuss when I return from travelling ….. I look guilty even when I’m not !!! XXXX
Gosh; I have no idea. Maybe he hid them at the bottom of his suitcase. We'll have to eat the evidence!!!
Even with pictures on the packaging I'm wary of anything that has foreign language I can't understand. I used to enjoy browsing through the shops in the Chinatown section of our city market, but haven't been back there since the best shop burned down several years ago. I believe it has been rebuilt now, but I just don't go there anymore.
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