Japanese Snack Review: Karinto


“Looks can be deceiving” is an old axiom that should never, ever be ignored, especially when dealing with food. If we all judged food by appearance, we’d never eat okonomiyaki, sushi, sashimi, lychees, ect., and we’d be poorer for the loss. It does help, however, that the food actually look like food in order to be considered edible. Who would eat something that looks like poop for example?

Well, that’d be me and I’d do it again! Karinto is a crispy Japanese confection made with brown sugar and molasses that looks a lot like dog turds. This sweet and crunchy treat has been around in Japan since the Edo-Tempo period.

karintoKarinto looks enormously unappealing but is in fact quite good, especially if you like molasses and brown sugar. The inside is light and flaky with a honeycomb texture that’s nice and crisp. The outside looks, of course, like poop due to the molasses and brown sugar coating. The coating is thick in places and has a slightly chewy texture that goes well with the crispy inside.

If you like gingerbread, brown sugar, and black strap molasses then karinto is for you. Be warned that it is very molasses rich so if you’re adverse to strong molasses flavors avoid this snack at all costs.

TEXTURE=Good

FLAVOR=Yummy

APPEARANCE=Not Good

PACKAGING=Good

Giving Karinto an overall=Good

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Rachel

I was exposed to anime as a child while living in Germany after watching the Japanese version of Hans Christian Anderson’s the Little Mermaid. In high school, a classmate in art brought in Akira as an example of Japanese art. I wasn’t very impressed with anime at the time, but my re-exposure to it in 2000 thanks to Escaflowne had me hooked for life.After sorting out what I liked about anime (great stories, beautiful animation and epic battles) and disliked about anime (big boobs, angst-y 15 year-old kids, most mecha, sports stories and style-over-substance), I got into it with a vengeance.I do love almost all aspects of Japanese culture and try to be involved with it as much as possible. I have no problem admitting that I incorporate a lot of Japanese trends and traditions into my life as I modify them and make them my own. Anime is a big part of that, along with all the sub-cultures, past and present.

13 Comments

  1. Hinano

    Think of the possibilities on Halloween!

  2. Naga

    Oooh, I feel like eating.. something! Because the appearance is seriously.. ): Haha, shall get one if I see it next time.

  3. Rachel

    Yesss, if you had a CLEAN litter box and a CLEAN cat crap scoop and some grape nuts cereal you could have some cat crap cookies -Hinano. But why wait till Halloween?

  4. Rachel

    A Japanese friend recommended them to me when I asked him what an American gal like me, who has eaten enough Pocky and sembei to last a lifetime, should try. He said karinto. Yep, he warned me it looked like poo, but it still tastes divine. I really like molasses so this stuff makes my tummy happy. So, yeah -Naga, definitely give this a whirl if you dig brown sugary goodness.

  5. Lenners

    Just looking at it makes me nauseous, not sure how I’ll be able to eat it XDD

  6. Rachel

    Awww, c’mon -Lenners, it’s really tasty. It smells, good and tastes good so what if it looks like poop? Two outta three ain’t too shabby.

  7. Crayotic Rockwell

    I notice that there’s a “slight” difference of appearance between the packaging and actual product :)

  8. Rachel

    What? Could you possibly be suggesting there’s no truth in this advertising -Crayotic Rockwell? I’d lie too if my product looked like turds >_< ! They have to get people to buy their tasty product some how…

  • zingor

    If they are trying to make the product more appealing with the packaging, then they have failed miserably. I would rather eat the well formed brown turd looking ones than the diarrhea looking ones on the package. I am sorry Rachel, you’re on your own with this one.

  • Rachel

    Thaz a pity zingor, I think they’re vegan. Give some to Ed…

  • Hinano

    Rachel, think of the reactions of trick or treaters when you throw pieces of shit into their halloween bags :lol:

  • Rachel

    But yes, very good idea with handing out karinto turds to the kiddies on Halloween. Perhaps karinto covered in the crab treats will make kids swear off trick or treating forever.

  • ???????

    It’s actually quite delicious. ???????

    ???? made it for us from scratch, then we had some plum tea with it. Jamaica meets Japan again!!

  • 4 Trackbacks/Pingbacks

    1. Japanese Snack Review: Ao Nori Karintou at The Anime Blog

      [...] in Chicago. This ao nori karinto is a much, much prettier version of the original karinto I first reviewed. I honestly didn’t know that there were more than one varieties of this deep fried snack. [...]

    2. Japanese Snack Review: Pansy at The Anime Blog

      [...] recommend Pansy for people who like karinto or people who like Fruit LoopsTM and CheetosTM. This is good stuff and a great example of [...]

    3. Japanese Snack Review: Umebachi at The Anime Blog - We go beyond anime!

      [...] it’s sugary and tasty. After three bites, the realization dawns on me: This is sugar coated karinto! Sweet jeezus, have you been eavesdropping on my sugary fantasies? On the outside is a generous [...]

    4. Karinto « Batata Transgênica

      [...] diz esse site, não se deixe enganar pela aparência: às vezes o karinto parece outra [...]

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