Asian Sweet of the Week: Selection from Aji Ichiban
Aji Ichiban is a franchise Asian candy and snack distributor. They have a wide selection of candies and various dried fruits and snacks. You can find out a little bit more from the Wikipedia entry.
I went through the store and made some random selections.
Gummis:
Mint gummy bears - A surprising but not unpleasant combination of citrus and mint flavors. I liked this one a lot, and was glad I had accidently dropped a few extra in the bag.
Mango gummy - Looked a little bit like a fried egg with a yellow white. Had some good mango flavor, but with the vanilla tones I usually end up looking for.
Lychee gummy - Fresh and fruity tasting, similar to most other lychee candies I’ve tasted.
Lot 100 mango gummy - A flavor and scent reminscent of sneaker rubber. Unpleasant. I ate one bite and threw away the rest.
Package candies:
Soda candies - Made by a company called Pine. I tried to look at their website, but it’s all in Japanese. It came in flavors like lemon, cola and grape. These tasted nice, a little tart. The fizz felt more like foam in the mouth, but it was a pleasant sensation. I really liked these.
Smith Nougat - I tried to see if these were American-made, but I couldn’t find any details on the Internet. This candy was equivalent to Bit O’Honey. It had that same tooth-snapping effect, due to I imagine sitting in the store for a rather long time.
Overall, I would say there were a lot of winners from Aji Ichiban, with the exception of the Lot 100 mango gummy.
This chain of sweet shop is prevalent in Hong Kong. The Asian equivalent to the UK’s Woolworths pick and mix, the selection ranges from the sublime (green tea jellies) to the riddiculous (dried shrimp snacks). My particular favourites are the Australian Nougat selection. The imaginative packaging is a sure eye catcher for passers by. A great place to get rid of your HK dollars and coins is to spend them at the shop at the airport.