日本特色风味名点小食

 

Chewing gum comes in pretty much every flavor you can think of, no matter which continent you're on. But the weirdest² kind to come out of Japan isn't even this fruit-flavored gum riddled³ with spicy⁴ black peppercorns.

 

On the tamer side of things, there's Black Black Gum, which contains caffeine and ginseng to perk⁵ you up, and No Time Gum, which has tiny granules that scrub your teeth as you chew.

 

And on the bizarre side, there's "Man Smell" gum, a "Viagra" gum, and a gum that supposedly enhances breast size, shape, and tone.

 

 

Speaking of seafood⁶, a surprising amount of it ends up in ice cream. Frozen treats can come in jellyfish, crab⁷, shrimp⁸, shark's fin⁹, whitebait, and fried oysters¹⁰ flavors in Japan, and that's not even the most bizarre kind.

 

Ever wanted to try Indian curry¹¹ ice cream? How about coal-flavored ice cream? Horse meat? Beer?

 

Then there's this beautiful monument to gluttony: pizza in a cone¹². Yes, it's not technically¹³ ice cream, but it is glorious.

 

 

The craziest thing America has done with Doritos is make taco shells with them. Japan hasn't crossed that line, but the iconic corn chips do come in some very interesting flavors over there.

 

Some of these actually seem like they're worth trying; Who wouldn't want fried chicken or steak Doritos? But then there's crispy salmon¹⁴ and roe¹⁵ (fish eggs) with mayo, which we're more hesitant about.

 

Seafood flavors do appear frequently in Asian snacks, so maybe we're just culturally biased¹⁶. But can we at least all agree that orange-flavored potato chips are gross?

 

Aside from the rare occasions when PepsiCo tests the waters with new flavors like Holiday Spice, the familiar soda¹⁷ brand usually doesn't venture far beyond regular and diet in America. Japan, however, has been blessed with multiple limited-edition variations.

 

There are Pepsi Pink and Pepsi White, which are strawberry milk– and yogurt-flavored, respectively. And we can see the appeal in Pepsi Strong Shot (extra caffeine and carbonation). Pepsi Ice Cucumber also sounds pretty decent.

 

But then there's Pepsi Gold (ginger¹⁸-root flavor), Pepsi Azuki Bean (red bean paste–flavored), Pepsi Baobab (monkey bread fruit?), and Pepsi Shiso (an herb). Pepsi brings one of these oddball flavors out every summer, so we can look forward to plenty more to come.

 

KitKats are kind of a big deal in Japan. That's right -- those run-of-the-mill, chocolate-covered wafers you binge on during Halloween are a revered¹⁹ super-candy over there.

 

But the Japanese aren't satisfied with coating their biscuits in milk chocolate and calling it a day. No, KitKats in Japan come in a dizzying array of flavors.

 

Green tea, edamame soybean, wasabi, and red bean all sound like unsurprisingly Asian flavors, but then we get into some really weird¹ stuff. Ginger Ale. Buttered Corn. Hot Chili²⁰ Pepper.

 

And then there's the KitKat Pizza. You probably never thought you'd ever see those two words together.

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