08.28.05
Otegoro Uni Agesen-Bonchi Br.
[Editor’s Two Cents: And thus the conclusion of the August Japanese Snack Food Review Guest Time Period has come at long bittersweet last. Bringing up the rear, acting as the caboose, anchoring the guest time period is Donald, who might also be known as Brightorange14 despite orange not being his favorite color. Is it odd that Donald is all about the orange and Badmovie has a plethora of orange shirts and the two are good friends? Hmmmm!
I also want y’all to know that Donald took his own pics and laid out a lovely page on his home site with tables and all that swanky stuff. I did what I could transferring it to the booniverse but alas, his HTML is way more 1337 than mine.
Last I talked to Donald, he assured me that he would get his guest review in by the end of August. That was about a week and a half ago and I had about given up when lo! Wednesday, the last of August, I got an e-mail with “It’s still August for 10 hours and 19 minutes!” in the subject line. I’d say that was cutting it close, but then I realized that Donald is only following the fine tradition of JSFR post dating here at the booniverse. So, without further ado, here’s Donald.]
Growing up, I would often go with my family on a little vacation to the Santa Ynez valley, mostly famous for being the home of Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s ranch. We would generally spend our time in Solvang. Roughly translating, Denmark : Solvang as Germany : Frankenmuth. Once upon a time I’m sure that each of them was an authentic enclave of settlers maintaining a lifestyle like they had in their previous home, but now they settle for a windmill, hokey costumes and overpriced tourist trap gift shops.
Solvang’s pride and joy is a dish supposedly unique to them in America – the Aebleskiver. While there is much debate about what they are, and much fascination and trepidation, those only last until consuming one. The fact is, Aebleskiver is pancake dough cooked in the shape of a tennis ball. The shape doesn’t change how it tastes, and you can duplicate it either by purchasing the expensive pans they sell, or by mushing a pancake into a ball.
This brings me back to the baked rice crackers. They taste like generic rice crackers, but they’re shaped a little differently. They taste a little less salty, which is a nice plus, but that’s just about the only difference. They offer a very pleasing crunch, nearly identical in texture to Funions. They taste quite normal, which was almost disappointing giving the ingredient listing…
Yes, sea urchin. Two of my taste testers hate all seafood, yet they liked these, confirming that it is not possible to taste the urchin or the squid. I was really hoping to have a fishy, er crustaceany, cracker. Alas, there was no such luck.
Nevertheless, it’s a fine snack food. I very much enjoy rice crackers, and having it be more crunchy rather than crispy is a nice variation. I give it
4 Wasabi Peas out of a possible 5.
