One thing that any Candy Addict knows is that there are many seasonal candies: Cadbury Creme Eggs at easter, Brach’s Candy Corn at Halloween, Hershey’s Holiday Mixes in December, etc. Japan also follows this trend but rather focusing on holidays it follows seasons. One of autumn seasonal candies are the chestnut (or kuri) confections and I was reminded of this all to well on one of my trips to the local Asian market.
Out of all the kuri chocolates I saw in the store I picked out this one to buy. It looked simple and the box was too pretty! It shows little chocolates shaped like chestnuts that have a chestnut paste inside. I couldn’t wait to try them.
Firstly, I was taken aback by how beautiful the chocolates were. They were nestled so nicely inside, just waiting to be eaten. My first bite didn’t reach the chestnut interior, so I only tasted the chocolate, which was kinda bland and waxy. My second bite was better, when I got some of the chestnut paste with the chocolate. Yummy! The chestnut was nutty and sweet, with the consistency of a nice thick smooth caramel. It really balanced out the chocolate and rounded out the flavor of the candy overall.
What I find strange is despite my extensive searches on the internet, I cannot find any mention of these chocolates anywhere. The only thing I can figure is that they were a very limited seasonal release and are now history just like the fall leaves or that they just weren’t popular enough to give a wide distribution in the US. I guess I was fortunate enough to get my hands on this and now have a pretty package to remember it by.
