Meiji Choco Bananas
More brightly coloured chocolate fun from Japan – this time in the shape of miniature chocolate bananas from Meiji.
Inside the box are a multitude of tiny chocolates with a banana flavoured sugar shell. Now I have always had a problem with artificial fruit flavours – particularly strawberry and banana, which always seem to come out tasting like perfume – and so I was somewhat trepidatious about these little yellow fellows.
However my fears were unfounded, as the shells contain enough banana flavour to let you know you’re eating a sweet banana but not enough to make you think you’ve just been dosed with some sort of banana flavoured chemical. The shells are thin, crisp and not overly sweet, with a suitably restrained amount of banana flavouring. The chocolate actually gets to make itself known and the overall balance of flavours is pretty good. I couldn’t say what percentage of cocoa is in the chocolate, but judging from the taste it’s in the high 20’s or low 30 percent.
Obviously we’re not talking fine chocolate here. These are fun sweets for Japanese children and they’re devilishly moreish to boot. It doesn’t take too long to go from ‘full, rattley box’ to ‘last few bananas in the palm of your hand’ and in spite of myself I found myself wishing I had more to hand. I like the packaging (the box reminded me of the old Paynes Poppets packaging) and I think the flavour is done well. A shame we don’t have more ‘fun’ chocolate like this for British kids to munch on. Maybe someone should start a business importing Japanese chocolate into the UK?
Information
- Contains milk chocolate.
- Filed under banana, japan, meiji, milk chocolate.
I reckon we need the same business in Australia – love some of the Japanese Kit Kat flavours and I would love to try (and one day visit) 100% Chocolate Cafe in Tokyo (http://lovelypackage.com/100-chocolate-cafe/)!
I always thought that UK would have more Japanese snacks avaliable.
I guess it’s not easy to find them in UK?
I don’t really like banana, but I will give that snack a try when I spot it at the grocery.
I’m a strange one – I’ve always loved that artificial banana taste.
I just tried these, somewhat by accident when I purchased something else on eBay and was scrolling through the other offerings. I thought “why not?” and got the Meiji chocolate bananas. I thought they would be hideous, but am delighted to report they are wonderful! They have the crisp outer shell of an M&M, but it’s so much more pleasing due to its delicate banana shape. The chocolate and banana flavoring is in good proportion, and overall it is just a great chocolate treat.
I pulled this repice off the web and edited it slightly. Bottom line if you don’t want to use yeast is to mix it outside of the bread machine first, then use the Quick Bread setting to bake it. I hate nuts in bread too, LOL! Banana Nut Bread for MachinesINGREDIENTS:1/2 cup butter, melted2/3 cup milk2 eggs2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1 cup white sugar2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder1/2 teaspoon baking soda1 teaspoon salt1 cup mashed bananas (1 large, 2 small, etc.) DIRECTIONS:Spray bread machine pan with vegetable oil spray.In a separate bowl, premix ingredients in order listed. Place mixture in bread machine pan.Select the Quick Bread/Cake cycle. Press Start. Check after 1 minute to see if mixture is well blended.Bake until cycle stops. Remove the pan, and cool completely (15-30 minutes) before removing bread from pan.