In keeping with the food theme from last time, I’ve decided to do one more food post :). This time it’s about food souvenirs.
One of the most famous food gifts from Ise, Mie Prefecture is known as the Akafuku or 赤福 in Japanese. The most famous stores selling Akafuku are in the shopping alley right in front of the inner Ise shrine called Okage row. It’s a red looking, very very mushy snack. It’s a real pain to eat but very good. The outside is coated with a red bean paste and inside is a chewy mochi. Oh, and the snacks are only good for two days because they are not individually wrapped and are not artificially preserved. They’re also not that pricey, only 1,000 for 12.
However, they were involved in a scandal a few years ago where retailers in Mie and Nagoya were doing things like mainland Chinese vendors do. They were taking unsold expired akafuku, refridgerating them, relabeling the expiry date, and selling them again. But things look to have died down and it seems to be safe. At least there were tons of people eating it in Ise :P.
The second really popular gift is Iwato mochi or 岩戸餅 in Japanese. I’m not sure where I’ve had these before, but they’re essentially rice cakes with peanut powder stuck on the outside and red bean paste inside them. They’re inexpensive as well, around 1000 yen for 9. Also, they’re actually individually wrapped and placed in vacuum sealed bags. You could actually take these home with you, as the box says they’re good for 2 days after the vacuum bag is opened.
Hatsune Miku agrees that this is delicious!
A Foreigner's Tale in Japan 
I’ve had iwato mochi before….they sell them in mini forms at T&T with black sesame filling
These look very similar to south-eastern stuff.
(Also we should be able to register for this site.)
Be able to register for this site? What do you mean?
Red bean paste never fails to pleas me but, Peanut butter?
-totally allergic to nuts-
You’re a nutcase yourself, Nyarth.
jk
Sucks that you’re allergic to nuts. It’s not peanut butter, it’s a peanut powder though.
Anything containing peanut/any form of nuts is enough to give me an immediate rash.
They sure do look delicious ^_^
Akafuku: Life is extended through refrigeration (hibernation)
The issue is that they’re supposed to be fresh. Relabeling the expired ones or just labeling refrigerated ones as fresh ones is nothing sort of consumer deception. They also become a significant health hazard too.
Also, Akafuku cannot be placed in the refrigerator or else the red coating turns all hard and they become rather gross.
So like it turns hard metal and like causes the Akafuku Flu? Hmmm…looks like a good experiment for me to try. Hahaha ^_^ Wanna bring some back for me to eat during Orientation week if the students in team yellow start being jerks? I highly doubt it, but for safe measures…
These things are awesome. I can feel them in my mouth as I read this post ^_^
Never had them, but they sure look good.
My favourite is definitely Ice cream mochi; not that other mochis are bad. ^^ I tried different mochis when I went to Japan last year. Some were amazing, and some I swore I’ll never mention again. They looked really nice though. ^^;;