12.06.09
Prince of Peace Ginger Candy
Ooooo, ginger candy. I like a good ginger chew and so far, the ginger chews I’ve munched on have been really tasty good. The first one I was ever introduced to is made by Reed’s and they were chewy and gingery bitey good with a nice sweet. They were also American made so I did not review them for the JSFR. Then I discovered The Ginger People which also make a decent and tasty ginger chew (although I prefer Reeds, I think they are a little more bitey with the ginger and I like me some bitey chews). Then last year when I got back from break, I discovered a package of Indonesian ginger chews named Ting Ting Jahe on my chair. They were every bit as good as Reeds, less expensive (after I went and bought more because free from our IT guy shouldn’t really count in pricing) and had an edible inner wrapper. I think I’d rate Ting Ting Jaha just a bit better than Reed’s actually, if I recall Ting Ting Jaha are a slightly stiffer chew so less gummy and more taffy.
In my last foray to My Second Favorite Asian grocery Store, I found yet another company that does ginger chews, so I snapped them up. First off, for those of you who are going to leave me a comment, these are not Japanese. They may not even be from Hong Kong, although they could be distributed from there. They say “made in Indonesia” but then also claim to be a “proud product of Prince of Peace Ent. Inc.” which is head quartered in California. These ginger chews get around! If I had to guess just by the packaging, I’d say these particular chews are made for the California branch of Prince of Peace (website here if you are curious) out of their Indonesian facility solely based on the lack of quizzical English on the package and because the inner wrapper isn’t edible. Oh yeah, don’t eat the second wrapper by the way. These Ginger Candies aren’t singularly outsourced American ginger chews however, because the packaging is very heavily sprinkled with Chinese (I think) and French so I’m just guessing that they are a well done international candy. I wish I knew French or Chinese (?) so I could see if they got those languages as right as they got the English. If they did, I’d be even more super impressed than I am.
But the chews! What about the chews! Did you know there are only 3 ingredients to these chews? Sucrose, ginger and tapioca starch. These must be the easiest things in the world to make but I’m guessing if everyone makes their ginger chew with sucrose, ginger and tapioca starch then there is not going to be a lot of variance. True enough, like the other chews, these are ginger bitey (I’d put them up there with a delicious hot ginger bite of Reeds and Ting Ting Jahe) and a little more stiff taffy than chewy gummy in texture. In short, these are a good, tasty ginger chew much like the other good, tasty ginger chews.
Rating of 4 Wasabi Pea out of a possible 5.
