There are many opinions on whether November is a month in winter - but it certainly is considered as one in the Japanese food industry! This is the time of year when vending machines, chocolate factories, coffee shops, and maybe your very local school snack table (wink, wink) restocks season limited goodies because people sure love the word kikan-gentei. Here are some you may want to check out.
Yukimi Daifuku
Who says we can’t eat frozen food during the winter? As long as it looks like snow, ice cream is seasonally legit! From the outside, Yukimi Daifuku looks exactly like an ordinary rice cake ball; but instead of the normal sweet bean paste, creamy vanilla ice cream awaits you hidden inside the white mochi layer. My suggestion is to let it melt a little before you stab it with your fork and take a bite. There is also a new variation with oreo-ish cookie crumbles in it, too.
Amazake
Amazake literally translates into ‘sweet alcohol’ in English - but do not fret (or get too excited), because they are just a sweet and milky drink with usually less than 1% alcohol in it. Even kids enjoy a sip of hot amazake after a long trip to the shrine during the Japanese New Year. The most common one is sold by Morinaga and is inside a red can. To be honest, the taste is so unique not everyone would like it - but it doesn’t hurts to try it at least once, right?
Yukimi Daifuku
Who says we can’t eat frozen food during the winter? As long as it looks like snow, ice cream is seasonally legit! From the outside, Yukimi Daifuku looks exactly like an ordinary rice cake ball; but instead of the normal sweet bean paste, creamy vanilla ice cream awaits you hidden inside the white mochi layer. My suggestion is to let it melt a little before you stab it with your fork and take a bite. There is also a new variation with oreo-ish cookie crumbles in it, too.
Amazake
Amazake literally translates into ‘sweet alcohol’ in English - but do not fret (or get too excited), because they are just a sweet and milky drink with usually less than 1% alcohol in it. Even kids enjoy a sip of hot amazake after a long trip to the shrine during the Japanese New Year. The most common one is sold by Morinaga and is inside a red can. To be honest, the taste is so unique not everyone would like it - but it doesn’t hurts to try it at least once, right?
Hotto Lemon
Been outside? Almost frozen? Hotto Lemon is a great drink for when you’ve been skiing or snowboarding. The hot lemonade, sweetened with sugar, will surely warm your cold body up. You can find them sold in vending machines for about 130 yen. Just look for the bottle with a picture of a lemon on it.
Meltykiss
Japanese snack companies associate winter with chocolate a lot, probably because it won’t melt like in summer and maybe partly because of the Valentine’s Day association. Pocky and Almond chocolates have winter-limited variations topped with chocolate more powdery and rich than the normal one. Meltykiss, calling itself ‘premium chocolat’, can only be found during November to February, too. Prop one into your mouth, and creamy chocolate will instantly melt. There are green tea and strawberry flavours as well.
Sei Shonagon had famously written “Haru wa akebono” (In spring, it is dawn). Well, if you’d ask me, I would say “Fuyu wa tabemono” (In winter, it is food). Enjoy the winter treats that will only appear on the shelves during winter.
Been outside? Almost frozen? Hotto Lemon is a great drink for when you’ve been skiing or snowboarding. The hot lemonade, sweetened with sugar, will surely warm your cold body up. You can find them sold in vending machines for about 130 yen. Just look for the bottle with a picture of a lemon on it.
Meltykiss
Japanese snack companies associate winter with chocolate a lot, probably because it won’t melt like in summer and maybe partly because of the Valentine’s Day association. Pocky and Almond chocolates have winter-limited variations topped with chocolate more powdery and rich than the normal one. Meltykiss, calling itself ‘premium chocolat’, can only be found during November to February, too. Prop one into your mouth, and creamy chocolate will instantly melt. There are green tea and strawberry flavours as well.
Sei Shonagon had famously written “Haru wa akebono” (In spring, it is dawn). Well, if you’d ask me, I would say “Fuyu wa tabemono” (In winter, it is food). Enjoy the winter treats that will only appear on the shelves during winter.