06.19.10

Hi-Chew (dragon fruit)

Posted in 4.0 Wasabi Pea Rating, Caramel/Taffy, Sweet at 12:40 am by Boo



Still wrapping up the January J-listing with Morinaga Hi-Chew (dragon fruit). I’ve done a few Hi-Chews (strawberry, lemon and grape) and a couple Korean based Mychews (apple, grape and strawberry) and universally Hi-Chew has been a little gummier and a little prettier with the white outer wrapping and colored center. Mychew are good (and a little less bouncy weird to the western palate) but Hi-Chew are a eensey bit better with the flavor I find. Mostly.


What surprised me about these Hi-chews was the lack of pretty construction. Dragon Fruit Hi-chews are sort of universally Pepto-Bismolly pink colored with poppy seed looking inclusions. No white taffy wrapping around a pretty colored center. Sadness. I won’t dock pea points but I certainly won’t be inclined to add any either; the white around a colored center was one of the things I found really neat about Hi-Chew.

The Guinea Pigs and I forged ahead, however, because Science can not be put off by a lack of prettiness. I also wasn’t sure what a dragon fruit should taste like so I did some internet poking about. The Wikipedia article has some neat pictures but doesn’t really go into the taste detail except to say that they are lightly fruity and shouldn’t be eaten with strong flavored things. The pictures (down towards the end of the article…at least today that’s where they are) explain the poppy seed like inclusions which appear to be the seeds of dragon fruit. They are also interestingly crunchy when you hit upon one. Doing more internet sleuthing only yielded me this: dragon fruit is kinda bland, sweet and might taste reminiscent of kiwi, or melon or possibly apple. All agreed that the seeds were crunchy.

Hi-Chew (dragon fruit) smells tangy fruity and tastes sweet (which…it’s a taffy so no one should be surprised) and has a pretty strong tangy berry-like flavor. It could also possibly be apply and perhaps a little kiwi-y and also maybe mellonesque but mostly it’s a tart, sweet and has a generic berry flavor with apple-kiwi-possibly melon overtones. Maybe. It’s not bad, but given the descriptions I’m finding of the flavor, I think the Hi-Chew is a little more flavorful than the actual dragon fruit really is. There is also a nice little crunch of the seeds but they are not as numerous as the pictures of the actual fruit show. Those are a lot of lot of seeds.

Morniaga is, I think, beefing up their dragon fruit flavor with some added extra fruity flavors but my Guinea Pigs didn’t seem to mind. Most of them took right to the Hi-Chews and were pleased afterwards. Another thing to note is that the dragon fruit flavor isn’t as springy bubble gum in texture as the former Hi-Chews and instead is very taffy like in construction. I can live with the lack of pretty candy construction if the bouncy is also sacrificed. That seems a fair trade to me.

Rating of 4 Wasabi Peas out of a possible 5.

4 Comments »

  1. Julia said,

    June 21, 2010 at 11:24 pm

    I would like to go OMFG I LOVE YOUR BLOG AND I LOVE YOU. I don’t even know you. But I love you on principle. I especially love that you have the ‘where it comes from’ page, because I live in the area and this has just expanded my list of places to get snacks. Also, I love that you don’t shun Pocky, because I’ve noticed that on other Japanese snack food blogs, like Pocky is a dirty word when it is tasty and awesome and a good thing to keep in your desk drawer in case of hunger. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks, you are rad and I’ll add your blog to my reading list. 😀

  2. Boo said,

    June 22, 2010 at 5:44 am

    Sahweet! Yeah, I can not dis the Pocky, it really is an ingenious treat. Glad someone is getting use of my “Where it comes from” page…which reminds me; I need to add J-List!

    Thanks for stopping by.

  3. Kevin said,

    June 22, 2010 at 11:42 pm

    They were odd, but distinctly tasty.

  4. S.Emerald said,

    January 18, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    I’ve never had nor do I think I’ve seen this flavour in my store before.

    I have had the orange and grape versions and those were very addicting:)

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