Korean Box 2

As I believe I mentioned before, I received a second box of Korean snacks. It's finally time to break them out! Here's the whole haul, before I dig in and take a good look at each item.

Little fish cakes. These are so cute! Also, as you can see from the second picture, these are actually cake. Yay! The cake is a light sponge cake, not very sweet. I expected from the box that these would be chocolate/marshmallow. The filling doesn't look like the box art. There is no visible white, and the brown is lighter and thick-sort of fudge-y in consistency. I do wonder if that's a result of the shipping/age, though. Not a real chocolate flavor. These aren't bad, and they are adorable. That makes up for the blandly sweet flavor.

Premium whole almond candy. These look just like the picture. A whole almond is set on a small piece of milky toffee. The almond isn't covered, so when you put it into your mouth there is an unignorable difference of textures between the smoothness of the hard candy and the coarsness of the almond skin. After the pumpkin taffy, I've been more careful about biting down on candies and to that end I sucked on the almond candy for a minute. The toffee is slow to dissolve, but pleasantly sweet and mildly milky. Bored, though, I gave an experimental bite and was well rewarded. The toffee is brittle and breaks easily. Together the almond and the candy are delightfully crunchy and well balanced. 

They aren't joking when they say these are milk flavored. For some reason the taste of these makes me think of movie theater popcorn. They're not really salty, so I'm not sure why. Milky and sweet, with the intensity of evaporated milk. Very sweet, enough that it.. burns(?) that 's not the right word, but you know what I mean.

I was pretty excited for crackers and cheese. I love the salty calorie bombs that are those pb and cheese cracker sandwiches. These... well. The crackers are saltine-like. But without the salt on top. Very thin, very bland by themselves. The picture is not a mistake, these are double-deckers. Top cracker, orange cheese smear, middle cracker, yellow cheese smear, bottom cracker. The cheese is thin, and not as punchy as I'd like. Also the yellow is sweet. I like salty and sweet as much as the next lady, but this just isn't balanced. I am disappointed.

Oreo-flavored wafers, covered in chocolate. What's not to love? These aren't as 'oreo' forward as I was expecting, but they do hit on the signature flavors. Probably something to do with the cookie/cream ratio. These are still delicious and the flaky wafer texture is nice, as well.

Smoky Bacon Chips.

There is a lightly smokey smell when the bag is first opened. It's also a little sweet. These chips are puffed something. Potato? Rice? Who knows. It makes these light, airy, and satisfyingly crunchy. The flavor is, like the scent, lightly smokey. A little salt and umami, but these are not assertive. The picture on the package led to me believe they would be intense but they aren't. For which I am glad. These are moreish. I could see myself eating the whole bag without realizing it.

Tiny ramen puck chips. These smell, unsurprisingly, like cup noodle. They are taller/fatter than I expected. 2cm diameter, 1 cm height. The noodles are quite densely packed, but very light and brittle. It's easy to bite through, it doesn't really throw off shards like biting into a ramen brick would. Flavor? Savory, sweet, spicy. More spicy than I expected. In a back of the tongue, lingering sort of way. The package has.. hot dogs? with some sort of glaze and sesame seeds on the top right. I don't get a really meaty flavor. These are more like spicy ketchup (but with no real tomato tang. I know, it doesn't make sense.). Huh. Also, a lot less salty than I assumed.

First things first. The box opens from the side and has a little tab to reclose it. Sort of like a fast food chicken box. The box doesn't lie. These are shaped like tiny drumsticks, with a smooth breadcrumby exterior. I'm not getting a strong scent from the bag. A little chicken-y, a little herb-y, maybe. Huh. The fat part of the drumstick (the meat, as it were) is hollow. These are very crunchy. I'm not getting a lot of flavor. A smidge of onion, maybe, a touch of chicken. Mostly these taste like breadcrumbs. But not in a bad way. And the crunch is so satisfying.

I was worried that after the honey-butter potato chip disappointment that I'd be wasting my time by saving these for last. Fear not, past me! You made the right choice. These are deliciously addictive. 2" segments of churro-shaped chip. These bad boys are super crunchy, and perfectly sweetened. Decent, not overwhelming cinnamon, and a touch of authentic honey flavor round out the profile. These are incredibly moreish and some friends and I ate nearly the whole bag in a very short sitting. Yum!

I've been eating these the whole time I've been sampling snacks. Again, like a Korean Hi-Chew. These are soft, chewy, and brightly apple-y. What's not to love?