This my second Asian supermarket Haul and this is what I bought.
Lots of things!
This time I didn’t drink the drink before coming home! So this is what is coming during the following days.
Anything you are looking forward to this time? Something that will really surprise me? Let me know!
I honestly don’t know what happened with these. It seems these Phoenix Rolls and me weren’t meant to be.
Vegetarian Phoenix Rolls
They looked and sounded delicious. Only the “vegetarian shredded pork” that was listed on the ingredients list had me a little startled. It said, however, that is was made from textured soybean, so I believed that. I guess the problem here for me is, that it is listed as pork first, then in brackets as soybean second. The little history part sounded quite nice aswell:
“The October Fifth Street (Rue de Cinco de Outubro in Portuguese) first known as Si Meng Street a hundred years ago has always been a bustling street in Macau selling a full array of local products. To date, the October Fifth Bakery of Macau takes pride to offer you these local flavours for your enjoyment.”
Okay, fair enough. Sounds like these guys know what they are doing. The box contains two of these:
“single” packet
Here is where it went wrong first. Once I opened it this greeted me:
a crumbly mess
Yes. A crumbly mess. I don’t know where it happened, if it was during import or during transportation from store to my home, but this is what I saw once I opened it. Not very appetising to begin with, right?
a phoenix roll
Since crumbs don’t really stop me from eating something, after all it all ends up in my stomach, I braved on to see how these rolls would tingle my taste buds.
more crumbly mess underneath
And tingle they did. They were really, really dry and I didn’t have something to drink with me while trying them (lesson learned – always have something to drink with you, when you taste test something). The convincing pork flavor of the textured soybeans tickled something else though. When I tried to finish the roll pictured here the dryness and the flavor worked together and I just couldn’t swallow it.
This made me really sad. They really sounded like a delicious treat that would, for once, not be sweet. For now I don’t think I will try them again. I haven’t even finished the box so far. Maybe I will try a different type if they offer it, but this particular one I am afraid to try again. Do you know those times when your stomach develops its own memory and once it sees something it triggers a reaction? Yes, this is happening here, sadly.
As for the ingredients and the delicious shredded pork:
| Ingredients: | Wheat Flour, Sugar, Eggs, Vegetarian Shredded Pork (Textured Soybean), Vegetable Shortening (Palm Oil, Coconut Oil), Margarine (Palm Oil, Soybean Oil, Butter, Vitamin E), Sesame, Dried Seaweed, E450(i), E500(ii), E341(i) |
| Net weight: 75g (2.6oz) | |
Maybe these vegetarian rolls are more suited for people who aren’t actually vegetarians. The pork is really convincing! But I still advise you to have something to drink with you when you try these.
| Nutrition Information | ||
| Items | Per 100g | Daily % |
| Energy | 2059kJ | 25% |
| Protein | 10,2g | 17% |
| Total Fat | 24,5g | 41% |
| Saturated Fat | 9,1g | 46% |
| Trans Fat | 0,6g | — |
| Total Carbohydrate | 57,4g | 19% |
| Sodium | 196mg | 10% |
Interested in October Fifth Bakery? Click this link! The homepage is entirely in Chinese though.
This is something I was really exited for and have been wanting to try for a while now: Mochi. Since getting fresh Mochi in Europe is close to impossible I had to settle with these:
Royal Family – Green Tea Mochi
They are produced in Taiwan, so they are not “original” Japanese mochi. I chose the green tea flavor since it appealed to me the most. Little did I know that this decision probably wasn’t the wisest.
inside the box
There are six in one box, each of them in a little paper cup:
single mochi
For some reason these are green. Probably because of the added food grade colors. Maybe they weren’t green enough for green tea mochi. But this made them look completely different from the ones displayed on the box:
box vs. reality
I honestly think the food coloring wasn’t necessary. It just takes away from the “mochi-look”. I am no mochi expert though… Those being my first mochi and all. Here is the inside:
mochi inside
These were really underwhelming to be honest. They also had a very powdery taste that I didn’t like, which might entirely be because of the green tea flavor. It lists green tea powder in the ingredients. The rice part wasn’t bad at all, the filling just wasn’t the right thing for me. They also were a little big and seemed to be very filling so I don’t see how it would be possible to eat 6 at once (unless you shared them with 6 people, of course).
These probably won’t be purchased again. I’ll try a different flavor, though. I won’t give up on mochi just yet.
What’s in them?
| Ingredients*: |
| Maltose, sugar, sticky rice, starch, vegetable oil, green tea paste, green tea powder, flavor, E133, E102, E110, sorbic acid |
| Net weight: 210g (7.4oz) |
It is also halal, if this is important to you.
Here are the nutrition facts:
| Serving size: 1 pcs (35g/1.2oz) Servings per Container: 6 |
||
| Amount Per Serving | ||
| Calories | 115 | |
| Calories from Fat | 1 | |
| % Daily Value | ||
| Total Fat | 0g | 0% |
| Saturated Fat | 0g | 0% |
| Trans Fat | 0g | 0% |
| Cholesterol | 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium | 15mg | 1% |
| Total Carbohydrates | 28g | 9% |
| Dietary Fiber | 0g | 0% |
| Sugars | 9g | |
| Protein | 1g | |
| Vitamin A | 0% | |
| Vitamin C | 0% | |
| Calcium | 0% | |
| Iron | 0% | |
Want to know more about Royal family and all their different Mochi flavors? Go here!
*translated by me
This is one of those things I didn’t think would be different… But yet they were!
Pocky Chocolate Flavor
For those in Europe this product is normally sold as the very politically correct “Mikado”. It is supposed to be the same product. At least I thought it was. Until I took a bite. I am picky with my chocolate and this didn’t taste like chocolate. But first, what do you see once you open this box?
bag in box
I guess they come in another bag to keep the “pretzel” (It is not really pretzel… I am picky about that, too.) fresh. Okay, cool. No one likes soft sticks, right?
For those who have absolutely never heard about Pocky before it is basically a biscuit stick coated with chocolate with a part left uncoated so you can hold it without getting sticky fingers. This is what they look like:
Pocky sticks
As far as Pocky goes, it is one of those products, where you really get what you see on the box. Maybe the biscuit isn’t as golden as on the box but how long are you really going to look at the biscuit before it is vanishing into your mouth? Exactly.
Omnomnom…
Back to the flavor. Okay? Okay. This doesn’t taste like chocolate. I am sorry, but it doesn’t. At least not to me. I got the Thai version of Pocky (originally, Pocky is a Japanese product – it was sold there first in 1966) and I haven’t had Thai chocolate before but it doesn’t taste like the chocolate I am used to. This tastes like cocoa.
This is absolutely not a bad thing, it still is very delicious. But I don’t think it should be called ‘chocolate flavor’, it is more a ‘cocoa flavor’. When you look closely on the box it says: “Chocolate Flavour. Biscuit stick coated with chocolate flavour confectionery.” So, this definitely means it is not coated with chocolate. Just with something that is supposed to taste like chocolate.
The European version ‘Mikado’, however, definitely tastes like chocolate.
Here are the ingredients of the Thai Pocky:
| Ingredients: |
| Wheat flour 41%, Sugar 29%, Palm oil 15%, Cocoa powder 5%, Margarine 4%, Skim milk powder 3%, Cocoa mass 1% |
| Net weight: 47g (1.65oz) |
See? It is mostly plant fats with cocoa powder. Not chocolate. I guess what makes chocolate taste like chocolate to me is the milk part? I don’t think they put palm oil in our chocolate.
Are the preferences different? Does chocolate taste different in Asian countries? Or is this supposed to accommodate the supposedly bigger amount of lactose intolerant people in Asia? It still contains Milk powder, though… Maybe this way it doesn’t melt as easily in warmer weather?
Now I am interested if this is different for the original Japanese Pocky as well, and what is inside the European Mikado.
Unfortunately I can’t post any of the nutritional info. It is definitely printed on the box, front and back even, but in Thai. And I can’t read Thai, sorry.
If you want to know more about the Thai Pocky go here. If you want to know more about Pocky and its history in general go here.
Ever thought food could come in your very own construction set? No? Well, then meet this interesting and fun way to fill your belly!
Tadaa! Build your own meal!
Ever remember these Lunchables thingies where you can build your own “sandwich”? This is what this reminded me of, once I opened it.
Your very own meal construction set!
It even comes with a fork! Practical! I at first doubted the stability of the fork but after my rigorous stirring adventure it convinced me. It didn’t break and worked like a fork is supposed to work during my meal.
So how do you make Cold Noodles you ask? Well, you pour hot water over it of course! “It” being the noodles of course, we are going to assume we are clever enough to remove the flavor packets before pouring hot water over them. Oh, and we also remove the noodles from their plastic prison before we can even attempt pouring hot water over them.
Instructions for our meal kit!
I am not quite sure why it calls for 600ml of water because the box it comes with can’t hold 600ml. I tried. It didn’t work. So I filled the box with the noodles to the rim with boiling water and waited 2 minutes. Then I poured the water out again and added mystery ingredients number 1-3. None of the seasoning packets had labels, not even in Chinese.
Mystery Ingredients!
However after opening and due to coloring you can tell pretty easily what is in those packets. Number 1 contains the tomato sauce, number 2 the vinegar sauce and number 3 the vegetables. Here it is how it looks like once the noodles are drained and the packets are added:
So close to completion!
What I at first identified as dried carrots turned out to be bell peppers. Oops. Well, it is orange! What would you have thought it was?
So after a good stirring with my trusty fork friend our finished meal looks like this:
I stirred so well, the whole table had sauce stains!
I took a bite and… Tasted tomato. An overwhelmingly tomatoy taste. Like good old Italian tomato sauce. Only… There wasn’t much tomato to be seen. It didn’t taste bad though. I finished it.
One question remains: Why is this called “cold” noodles? After pouring the boiling water over it the noodles were everything but cold. Should I have waited longer? At best I would call this “warm” noodles.
So what is inside?
| Ingredients* (bring out the Es!): | |
| Noodles: | Wheat flour, tapioca starch, water, wheat gluten, salt, vinegar from fermentation, E270, E501, E471, E401. |
| Tomato sauce: | Soy oil, tomato paste (tomatoes, sugar, salt, E621), sugar, tomato aroma, onion powder, E621, E631, E627. |
| Vinegar sauce: | Vinegar from fermentation, fermented soy sauce, salt, sugar, pepper, E621, E262, Food Aroma(?). |
| Vegetables: | Bell peppers, peanuts, sesame seeds, salt, monosodium glutamate. |
| Net weight: 248g | |
The tomato sauce contains 3(!) different flavor enhancers. Three! Wow. That explains the strong tomato taste. And what exactly is Food Aroma?
All in all This really isn’t too bad for an instant meal though… I am actually surprised at the amount of “non-Es” in this food!
What the box doesn’t tell us is anything about the nutritional info. There is none on their homepage either as far as I could see. It either isn’t required by Chinese law or it got covered by the import sticker.
What the box does tell us however is that it is microwave oven and dishwasher safe. So you technically can reuse the plastic box. Yay for boxes!
I am not sure if I am going to buy it again though. While it tasted alright it still is a lot of work for an instant meal. While the fork is a nice touch you still need at least an electric kettle or a pot and stove to get some water boiling and some scissors or a knife to open some of the packets. Unless you have claws. Maybe it is good for a quick office snack? And the reusable plastic box is a nice touch.
If you like building your own meal and getting a free box out of it this is definitely the food for you!
If you want to know more about Nan Ji Cun you can visit their homepage. It is rather difficult to navigate though since it is mostly in Chinese. Even when translated into English. It really just is a very Chinese homepage. Have a look for yourself!
*translated by me
Let’s start this presentation off with the Philippine Brand – Dried Mango Pineapple Balls!
Philippine Brand – Dried Mango Pineapple Balls
Let’s get the hard facts out of the way, shall we?
| Ingredients: | Selected mangoes, pineapples, sugar & preserved with sulfur dioxide (also known as E220) |
| Net weight: 100g | |
For getting the Nutritional Facts one has to be quite tricksy since it was covered by the import sticker:
Who reads nutritional facts anyway, right?
Since that was no problem for me, here are the nutritional facts as they appear on the packaging:
| Serving Size 1.5 oz (42g/about 6 pieces) Servings per Container about 2.1 |
Amount per serving | % Daily Value |
| Calories | 160 | |
| Calories from fat | 0 | |
| Total fat | 0g | |
| Cholosterol | 0mg | |
| Sodium | 55mg | 2% |
| Total Carbohydrates | 39g | 13% |
| Dietary Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugars | 32g | |
| Protein less than | 1g | |
| Vitamin A | 2% | |
| Calcium | 0% | |
| Vitamin C | 30% | |
| Iron | 2% |
First of all I have to say that I like the realism of the serving size. These things are quite delicious, you won’t be able to stop at one unless you don’t like sweet things.
But let’s see what we get once we open the package:
individually wrapped balls
The balls are individually wrapped, while this might seem not really ecologically friendly let me assure you that if the balls weren’t individually wrapped they would stick together in one big sticky fruit blob.
A fruit ball!
There it is in all it’s glory. While you might think that this looks not really like dried fruit you have to keep in mind that this is a fruit blend! It is basically dried mango and pineapple puree in a little ball form covered with sugar.
And it is delicious. The fruits are naturally really sweet, so this is even sweeter but you can still taste the fruit. It has a rather chewy consistence for being dried fruit.
Chewy inside!
All in all I would definitely buy these again even though it might not be everyone’s thing since these are really really sweet! If you like sweet things you should definitely try these if you get the chance!
If you want to check out more of the manufacturers products go here!
On Monday I went to one of a multitude of Asian Supermarkets that exist in my town. As soon as I stepped foot into it, it was like I travelled thousands of kilometers and I suddenly wasn’t in Europe anymore. Let me show you what I got:
Asian Supermarket Haul
In the following days I want to discover those things together with you and introduce them to you as well as tell you about my experience with them as someone who is not used to most of these tastes. (The tea however is already gone – I finished it the day I bought it…)
Anything you are looking forward to?
Living with Food 