Chokoreeto! #22: Dars Almond

The Japanese actually says ダース　クラッシュ アーモンド / daasu kurasshu aamondo / Dars Crush(ed) Almond. I, just recently, have told you about this phenomenon.

Chokoreeto! #21: Lotte Almond (the regular variety)

I sort of became more lax on my dark-chocolates-only diet... :D

Chokoreeto! #19 and #20: Morinaga "Bitter Chocolate" and Lotte Crisp Almond Chocolate with a "W"

If you haven't yet guessed by now, some Japanese like dark or bitter chocolate / bitaa chokoreeto. So I've tried Meiji and Lotte, maybe the top two Japanese chocolate brands. Which one is the best? I don't know. They're all delicious to me. :D

This one is so good, I got me another box. But hey, look! There's that "W" again! It's everywhere! By the way, I generally like Lotte brand chocolates, better than Meiji ones, only because it's just a little less sweeter. If you like sweet, you should go Meiji.

Chokoreeto! #18: Our Christmas cake

Complete with a Christmassy decoration. Lots of different nuts. There's a hardened chocolate top, plus a brownie-like main part -- i.e. so much more delicious than the usual chocolate sponge cake with fudge icing!

It even came with candles! Christmas is someone's birthday after all, but since He's not physically available then, we blew the candles ourselves. :D

Chokoreeto! #17: Meiji Macadamia Semi Sweet Chocolate

Still on my crusade to cut down on sugars and go black chocolates. :D

Why are there a large variety of Kitkat flavors in Japan?

Chokoreeto! #15 & #16: Dars Bitter and a "Dark" Kitkat

Dars (ダース / daasu) Bitter (ビター / bitaa) above. Kitkat "オトナの甘さ / otona no umasa" = sweetness for adults???

Chokoreeto #14: Alfort Aroma Bitter

Well don't be surprised, now, right?

Oh, and if you still haven't heard, I've gone black/bitter/less-sugar/less-carbs when it comes to chocolates. I've already lost maybe 5 kilos (around 11 lbs) just by cutting down on rice and other carbs like noodles, corn, and potatoes! Never felt better. :D

Chokoreeto #12 and #13: "Black" chocolates from Lotte and Meiji

Because I'm cutting down on sugars and carbs. Chocolate, without the milk and sugar, is vegetable after all. :D

Chokoreeto! #11: LOOK chocolate travels - Belgium

English: Belgium. Japanese: ベルギー / Berugii. English: Belgium. OK? Anyways, this one has two flavors, caramel and "cafe." I really don't notice the difference, but that's just me.

As before, there are patterns on the blocks. Caramel on the inside two columns, cafe on the oustide two columns. Caramel/Cafe Speculoos / スペキュロス / supekyurosu? Watisdat!? Apparently, it's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculoos

Chokoreeto! #10: Look Chocolat 18 (UPDATED)

"Chocolat 18" is pronounced here as chokora eitiin. It's 6 blocks each of 3 flavors, hence the 18. Ganache cream, Truffe cream, Chocolate mousse. The chocolate mousse is just meh; the truffe cream - I don't like it; the ganache cream - I don't remember how it tastes but I guess it's the best one of the three. Ganache (ガナッシュ / ganasshu) is actually like icing made of chocolate and cream. So really, the three flavors are all the same. Truffe, French for truffles, or toryufu / トリュフ in Japanese - is just that. Why is it toryufu in Japanese? Head on to Google Translate from this link (http://translate.google.com/#fr/ja/truffe) and press the speaker icon on the text input box on the left.

There are 6 different designs for each block, 2 each per flavor, as you might observe from the outside and the inside of the packaging. "LOOK" has a couple of other flavors. You guys will find out soon enough why I got this first.

Chokoreeto! #9: Country Ma'am Pancake-Flavored Choco Chip Cookies

For breakfast? Oh, yes.

Pancake = hotcake = ホットケーキ = hottokeeki. Country Ma'am = カントリーマアム = kantorii maamu.

Chokoreeto! #8: Peanuts Choco, Block Type

Block type because it's a bunch of peanuts and not just one inside one piece? They don't look shaped like blocks to me. Or maybe they wanted to try to shape them into blocks?

Peanuts = ピーナッツ / piinattsu. Choco = チョコ / choco. Block = ブロック / burokku.

Chokoreeto! #7: Alfort (Mini Chocolates)

"Enjoy the superb taste of chocolate & biscuit made with the finest ingredients."

"OK!"

Or アルフォート (ミニチョコレート). This is the classic / common flavor. Just plain old milk chocolate with biscuit underneath. I'll see if I can try other flavors.

Chokoreeto #5 and #6: My favorite Lotte Macadamia Nut Chocolates and another popular one, Crunky

The Lotte Macadamia Chocolates are my usual hunger busters. Crunky is another one I like, and I usually bring some of these as gifts when visiting home. :) I thought Crunky is similar to Nestle Crunch - well, it is in the way it feels when you eat 'em, but I think Nestle Crunch uses "rice crisps" while Crunky uses malt puffs. It's a fine combination indeed.

Hmmm, and now I just realized I like the Lotte brand of chocolates. They're a little less sweeter than the Meiji brand chocolates. So if you're into sweet stuff, you might want the Meiji versions of these Lotte brand chocolates. But for dark chocolate, I like the Meiji ones. How about you guys?

Chokoreeto! #4: Country Ma'am "Chocochip" Cookies

(カントリーマアム　チョコチップクッキー / kantorii maamu chokochippu kukkii) 

Two flavors: cocoa (ココア / kokoa) or vanilla (バニラ / banira)

Every morning, I have a pair of this for breakfast, one of each flavor. Yuh-uhm. I've also brought home a lot of these as gifts, and my friends and relatives all like 'em a lot.

Chokoreeto! #3: Choko Baamu

I guess this is a Bourbon brand snack. The Japanese characters read "funwari choko baamu." Funwari, I believe, means fluffy. Choko is short for chokoreeto, chocolate, of course. Baamu is short for baamukuuhen / バームクーヘン, which is the Japanese form of baumkuchen (pronounced baum-coo-hen), a German word (and probably now also an English word) for the type of layered cake similar to the one in the photo above, except it's usually made in a donut-like shape that is then cut to pieces such that they become almost square/cube-like in shape and become easier to eat without having to use a knife and a fork. This type of cake is actually quite popular here in Japan. I even saw some being sold at the Narita departure area. I guess it's for the Japanese who might miss their dose of baum as they visit other countries. I am not sure though how baumkuchen tastes in other countries - like in Germany. But all the baumkuchen I've tasted here are quite yummy, this included. This one actually comes with two flavors; "choko" (chocolate, obviously) and "howaito" (white - white chocolate, I guess). I have two of these, one of each flavor, for breakfast together with coffee and a banana. Actually, I usually have chocolate chip cookies, but since there weren't any the last time I went to the grocery, I had to settle for this. But, like I said, they're yummy.

If you're staying in one place in Japan for more than a week, you should probably try their baumkuchen here. If not, I suggest you just try the more traditional Japanese fare.

Chokoreeto! #1 and #2: Bourbon Almondrush + Glico Almond Peak

To start the new month, I'm starting a new series on the Japan! Japan! blog, and it's called "Chokoreeto" which is essentially Japanese for "chocolate." I'm not sure if I can sustain this series though, because I have to cut down on beans (including soy-based products and food extenders) and legumes (peas, etc.) and peanuts - but I'm not quite sure yet if I should likewise cut down on other kinds of nuts because they're not on this list of things that I should best avoid.

Anyways, here's a couple I picked up this week from the grocery, and well, they're two kinds with almonds. I usually get macadamia nut chocolates but those weren't available so, here we are. I usually take chocolates as an energy booster or a hunger buster in the morning for breakfast, late in the evening hours after dinner, or in-between meals. There is a huge selection of chocolates here in Japan - ever heard of Wasabi Kit-Kats and their many other variants? And some of the chocolates are only limited edition or seasonal. These two appear new to me, or at least their packaging seem to be new.

Bourbon (brand) Almondrush / ブルボン アーモンドラッシュ / burubon aamondo rasshu (above) and Glico (brand) Almond Peak (below).