Kanikko Crab Snack - Eating Baby Crabs...

Well these were really a weird snack! This snack was bought for us by Emma Moosa and was essentially a bunch of tiny little deep fried crabs inside of some giant crab packaing. You can see what they looked like here: 

As you can see from the picture above, the crabs were presented in their entirety with their tiny legs, claws, shells and even eyes intact (presumably their tiny little brains too...). On top of that, these were not a variation of the ever popular "soft shell crabs" that are served in Japanese and some other Asian restaurants all year round, but rather appear to be regular hard shelled crabs just in small sized and fried to crispy. As a result they were still pretty tough and brittle, as Arne described "it was like eating teeth". The flavour was intensely fishy and they were pretty stinky to boot.

Overall this was very far from being a tasty snack and I think was a pretty gruesome experience for all involved. Check out our video review to see our full reactions and meet our special guest star Emma:  

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong!
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Morinaga Strawberry Daifuku Hi-Chew Candy (森永ハイチュウ いちご大福) - A Very Japanese Crazy from Kong Review!

Ok, as you can probably guess from the title, this is a pretty complicated candy so I'm going to explain it out step by step.

Firstly if you haven't eaten Morinaga Hi-Chew Candies before, they are kind of like a cross between a traditional chewy candy and a piece of chewing gum, because they are so chewy you almost feel like you shouldn't swallow them.

This is a Hi-Chew Candy

The second element of this particular flavour is Strawberry Daifuku (イチゴ大福) a very popular confection in Japan. These are made by taking a strawberry smothering it with Adzuki bean paste (also known as "red bean paste) and then wrapping the whole thing with a mochi covering (a kind of chewy pastry like substance made from glutinous rice flour).

This is a Strawberry Daifuku

Daifuku actually means "great luck" and they come in a wide variety of flavours and colours and are often given as gifts in Japan for special occasions, when visiting someone's house or even as business gifts. The most traditional kind just contains Adzuki bean paste and nothing else.

This is the most traditional kind of Daifuku

Purple Sweet Potato Daifuku

So what is the result of all these complicated flavours coming together in a few small pieces of very chewy candy? It's decent, not outstanding, but decent. It's interesting trying to pick up all the different flavours, but in this particular case they are a bit too subtle to cause any serious excitement.

Now you may think that is the end of all the excitement around this review, but in fact you would be wrong because there is one very special thing about this episode of Crazy from Kong that I have not mentioned yet, which is that Arne forgot to turn on the microphone while we were recording it!!!

How did we deal with this rather huge disaster, I am sure you are wondering. Well, we came up with a really awesome and very unusual way to deal with this unexpected problem - to see what I mean you'll have to watch the video below: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Brain Juice - Drink This and Get Really Smart!!!

Lots of people dream of being just a little bit smarter, or having a better memory, or being able to ace their tests without studying and finally there dreams can come true! Just by purchasing an inexpensive drink they can become really smart!

Kirin Brain Juice is filled with DHA (the primary structural component of the brain) and lots of other exciting herbs with unpronounceable names that are guaranteed to make you at least an Einstein level genius after a few cans.

The attractively designed metal bottle shows a professor with a lightbulb for a brain, presumably indicating that he's just had a Eureka moment leading to the creation of this wonderful potion:

The rest of the bottle is covered in complicated mathematical equations, equipment from a chemistry lab (including a conical flask) and other difficult and complicated things that most sensible people know nothing about. 

So how was the experience? Well the drink itself was quite delicious and satisfying, with a sort of light root beer flavour, complimented by the herbally taste of the various intelligence creating essences that have been added. 

Did it work? Of course! I've been a genius ever since I drunk it! 

Don't believe me? Send me a difficult question and I'll answer it. 

To watch me getting instantly smarter as I drink it check out the video review below: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Dried Squid - One of Asia's Most Popular Snack Foods!!!

This snack is one of the most popular snack foods across the entire of Asia, variations of it are eaten across Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore and this particular famous brand is from Thailand! I grew up eating this version of the dried squid snack in Hong Kong in the 80's. And to be accurate this particular variant is Dried Cuttlefish, a species similar to squid, which is equally common here, but might not be so well known in the West. Both are pretty damn ugly as you can see here: 

The number of different dried squid snacks and the different styles in which they are prepared is many and often depends from country to country. Here are a couple of different examples: 

Typically the squid is seasoned and then dried and sometimes also barbecued after being dried. Typically the flavour is sweet, sometimes with a hint of spice and the texture is very very chewy! Everyone seems to love this snack across Asia and you can find it in kids lunch boxes, on desks at work and served on occasionally on tables in bars instead of peanuts. This used to be one of my favourite snacks as a kid, but to be honest it must have been somewhere between 10 - 20 years since I'd eaten it last before opening this packet for Crazy from Kong. 

To see what I thought, check out our review here: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog