Taiwan

This months Yum box was loaded with snacks from the island of Taiwan.

There were 13 different snacks in this month’s box.  Most I enjoyed and one not so much and it will be discussed in a bit.  Staying with the plan to showcase the top 2 favorites, the most unusual and the worst here’s my favorite of the box.

Basil flavored pea crackers.  That’s right, you read me, crackers made from peas.  I was skeptical when I opened the pack but was converted on the first bite of these spiral shaped crackers.  The first thing I noticed was these crackers had an awesome crunch.  It was harder than most corn or wheat based crackers I’ve had in the past and I liked it.  The next thing was the basil flavor, which was by far the dominant flavor and it tasted fresh, not artificial.  This was also the largest snack by volume too so double win.  The second favorite snack was a little smokey plum hard candy.

The smokey plum is on the right.  The other two candies were chewy but this little number was hard as your grandma’s Christmas candy.  I popped this in my mouth and man did it have the smokey part down pat.  There was a wood smoke flavor that I’m sure a true smoke connoisseur could have identified but to me it was like inhaling over a random camp fire, in a good way.  After a bit the smoke dissipated and the sugary plum flavor started to come through and shortly after that because I have the patience of a gnat I chewed it up so I don’t know if the flavor would have changed again as it dissolved.  Now on to what I thought was the most unusual.

Here we have the Taiwanese Choco Ball which I expected to be my favorite out of box based on the picture and ingredients.  I mean chocolate and peanut butter?  We’re in Reese’s territory here and I love that combo.  Well things didn’t turn out quite like I thought.  The thin chocolate exterior was not bad even though the chocolate wasn’t as sweet as I’m used to and wasn’t bitter enough to be cool like dark chocolate.  Then I got to the mochi which had a consistency between a gummy worm and that green slime you played with as a kid.  Not a lot of taste but it certainly contributed to an interesting mouth feel.  Now I’m down to the peanut buttery layer and it was also not as sweet as the peanut butter I’m used to and certainly not as sweet as that used in confections.  That’s not a bad thing but it didn’t meet expectations so there was an initial let down.  The interesting part was, taken individually the components were kind of disappointing but if you chunked a whole one in your mouth and didn’t spend too much time chewing it over the flavors went pretty well together, unlike the next snack.

Here we have the taro flavored wafer bar.  It was the only snack I disliked outright.  The wafer is a standard plain cardboard like example of it’s genre.  It was crispy and fragile with a thin layer of semisweet taro paste sandwiched in.  If you’ve never had taro it’s the same stuff they make poi from and if you’ve never had poi it’s like kindergarten paste without the great flavor.  You may have discerned I’m not a taro fan and this was even worse because as thin as the layer of filling was it still managed to leave a greasy taste in my mouth.  So no, just no to the taro wafer.

Although I’m not going to talk about them I will mention the other snacks in the box.

Black sesame cake, brown sugar lotus cake, pepper crackers, french fry snacks, seaweed corn bar, spicy scallion stick, red bean milk candy, black sesame milk candy and bubble tea popcorn.

I do want to give the bubble tea popcorn an honorable mention even though I don’t have a picture to share.  The popcorn still had a freshness to it and the sweet glaze had the taste of green tea and tapioca plus there were bits of black tea leaves on the popcorn as well.  The tea leaves weren’t enough to overpower the bubble tea flavor but did enhance the tea part.

OK and since I’ve never found a restaurant that claimed to be Taiwanese I’m adding the Tell Me More page for Taiwan to this post.  Check it out for a recipe video, music video, random fact and some shopping opportunities.

Based on the clues it looks like next month’s Yum box will be loaded with English treats.  Fingers crossed for some bangers & mash crisps.