Reviewed by
Mary
Bokksu is the only Japanese snack box that sources directly from snack makers in Japan, so many of our artisanal products cannot be found anywhere else. Start your cultural journey through Japan by subscribing to Bokksu and receiving a curated box of premium Japanese snacks and teas delivered to your door every month.
They have two levels of subscription: the Tasting, which is smaller, and the one I have received, The Classic. Subscriptions are prepaid for one, three, six, or twelve months.For the Classic box they work out at $39 (around £30), $37, $35 , and $33 per month.As usual, they are priced in dollars, so GBP conversion is according to today’s exchange rate. Obviously this will vary, but it gives you some idea of cost.
This month is the second beautifully designed special edition box, matching the one from last month.
It works very well for this month’s spooky theme, Haunted Harvest!
The menu booklet is very lovely indeed. The contents this month celebrate the Fall harvest with seasonal flavours, as well as a few nods to Halloween.
There are descriptions of all the items in the booklet, which include interesting details about the origin and flavours, as well as an allergy guide.
You can see on a map the origin of every item too.
Plus there’s some Japanese vocabulary to learn, and even a spooky traditional story!
This month’s tea is Organic Hojicha Tea, which uses roasted sencha green tea, giving it a lovely lightly toasted flavour.
Tsukisamu Anpan: Kabocha Pumpkin Red Bean has a classic autumn flavour of pumpkin. Anpan is a filled sweet roll, and this version is filled with a white bean and pumpkin paste. It’s quite dense and rich, so it can actually be heated in the oven and enjoyed in warm slices.
Japanese packaged baked goods are amazingly well preserved! This is a Kocha Black Tea Donut, which is a baked donut infused with Royal Milk Tea and even contains tea leaves for an extra deep flavour. Perfect eaten with this month’s tea!
These are two little chewy mochi. On the left is Kurumi Walnut Mochi with chopped walnuts and a hint of soy sauce. ON the right is Kinako Kurumi Walnut Mochi, which as well as walnut pieces is also dusted with kinako (roast soybean) powder for an extra nutty taste, and a deeper flavour of say sauce.
Satsuma Precious Chips Salt & Brown Sugar Flavour are nothing to do with the fruit. Satsuma is the original name for the Kagoshima Prefecture, which is the origin of the salt and potatoes of these chips. The mixure of salt and sugar gives a wonderful flavour combination, and the chips themselves are made from thick cut sweet potato.
Here are more of the amazingly light and melting mochi puffs we’ve seen in previous boxes. These are Funwari Meijin ochi Puffs: Annou Imo Sweet Potato, and are dusted with a layer of this incredible sweet and buttery flavour. They really are one of the most wonderful snacks that Bokksu supply!
Some fun Halloween items no, these are Sanrio Characters Halloween Cookies. These fun packages have one of each of chocolate fulled chocolate cookie and a vanilla cookie with vanilla pudding inside. A sweet and cute treat!
Puchi Pure Gummy: Halloween Pack are more themed items. Two little packages of gummies that contain actual fruit juice, in grape and orange flavour.
These three little Butter Corn Rice Crackers are so cute! The rice cracker dough contains corn, and the whole thing has a lovely sweet-salty corn taste.
These Kinoko No Manma Eringi Mushroom Chips Butter & Soy Sauce are one of the more unusual snacks I’ve seen. They are actual slices of oyster mushroom which are crispy and light, and flavoured with butter and soy for a salty and umami taste.
Danran Okaki Rice Cracker: Uni is one giant cracker! Uni is sea-urchin, and this cracker is coated with sea-urchin sauce after frying for a real taste of the sea.
Crispy noodles are a popular snack in Japan, and these are Men Zakuzaku Ramen Sticks: Gyutan & Salt Flavour. These particular noodles are friend in rice oil, which is very unusual, and are flavoured with beef tongue. Doesn’t sound great,but they’re savory and delicious!
Kamochi Mochi Rice Crackers: Kobukaki have kelp from Hidaka baked into them for a rich umami taste.
A couple more Halloween items now! First, Baby Star Ramen Sticks: Halloween are dried noodles flavoured with ramen. A classic Japanese taste!
Also, Onigiri Senbei: Halloween Soy Sauce Flavour. These two classic senbei are flavoured with nori and soy sauce for a simple but powerful savory flavour.
Last;y, Otona No Otsumami Crunch: Ebi & Black Pepper. This is a version of ebi crunch, a mixture of rice crackers and peanuts which are a popular snack to eat with beer. This version has puffy fried rice crackers, and they are flavoured with sakura ebi, a type of Japanese shrimp, plus a powerful punch of black pepper.
