10 bizarre Asian snacks you can buy at Xenos right now

We once gave Action the rather disrespectful title of ‘champion of weird snacks‘. Now I’m wondering whether we shouldn’t hand that title to Xenos instead. That store is packed all year round with eye-catching and downright strange products. Once again, this time Asian-style. From bizarre sweets to insanely hot chips, these are the 10 weirdest Asian snacks you can score at Xenos right now.

Good news for anyone who gets excited about these snacks: you can now get them with 25% off!

10 bizarre Asian snacks from Xenos

1. Peeling soft candy

These days, we no longer think a simple sweet to suck on is enough. We want a special experience in our mouths. Well, this Peeling soft candy certainly delivers that. With this sweet, you get the idea that your tongue is peeling a piece of fruit. It ‘flakes’ in your mouth, as if you’re removing the skin from a grape. That’s also what this sweet tastes like—unless you buy the peach or soft-drink-flavored version. Well, someone had to think of it.

2. Biscuitsticks tokimeki

The salty stick, but in exciting flavors. Such as spicy chili or, the complete opposite, ultra-sweet milk-banana, blueberry, strawberry, or popping candy. A fun idea for your next drinks party: fill a cup with all the flavors and play Russian Roulette with the spicy chili stick.

3. Jelly mango

Just like those fruit pouches for babies, don’t you think? Xenos calls this a ‘perfect combination of sweet and refreshing, ideal as a summer snack or a light treat after a meal.’ Nah, I’ll just have a simple scoop of ice cream. For anyone willing to give it a try: they’re also available in white peach and pineapple flavors.

4. Baumkuchen matcha

Don’t be misled by the German name; this is actually a snack that’s hugely popular in Japan. Baumkuchen means ‘tree cake’. That doesn’t really make us much wiser, though. The internet tells me it’s a layered cake with matcha flavor. Aha, so the layers are the rings of a tree… And the green color comes from the matcha… It all clicks into place. (This Xenos snack is yours for eight quarters, by the way—and as we speak even for six quarters.)

5. Castella Cake

Chocolate cake, gin and tonic cake, champagne cake; I want them all. But this Castella Cake? Meh. And that probably has something to do with the fact that cake in plastic packaging is almost never good news in my book.

6. Devil chips super spicy

I find this a somewhat aggressive bag of chips. But it has to be, because these are truly suuuuper spicy, and that calls for a little drama. ‘Not for wimps’, ‘explosive flavor that wakes up your taste buds’, ‘if you dare’, according to Xenos. Well, try them yourself—if you dare, that is.

7. Seaweed snack

Seaweed is hot! It’s tasty—although you have to be into it—and healthy. So these seaweed sticks seem like the ideal snack. But, um… I don’t find it very surprising that people give you strange looks with a bright green stick in your mouth.

8. Cantabile watermelon drink

Do you remember Capri Sun? That pouch of juice you always took with you when you went disco swimming or played outside? They’re back, but in an Asian version. Complete with a cute penguin wearing heart-shaped glasses on the packaging. And not orange-flavored, but tropical watermelon-flavored. In Asia, everyone walks around with one—even adults who aren’t playing outside.

9. Garlic bread-flavored almonds

Do you know what I always wonder? How does regular garlic taste different from garlic bread? And, more interestingly: how do they get that ‘bread’ flavor in there? I haven’t tried these garlic bread-flavored almonds yet. Maybe I should pick some up this afternoon, and then I might be able to tell you the answer.

10. Puku Puku Tai strawberry

An airy wafer in the shape of a fish, with a strawberry flavor. I’m seriously wondering now: if you take this snack with you to high school, are you cool? Could a younger reader tell me?

Read also:

• Seven things you shouldn’t do when you’re in Japan but probably will
• This is the difference between Japanese and Chinese tofu
• These are the seven Japanese chopstick etiquette rules; how many do you already follow?

Images: Xenos