Matcha Kit Kat
Who doesn’t love a Kit Kat bar, with its crunchy “fingers” that consist of three layers of wafer cookies covered in chocolate?
But did you know just how many variations there are around the world?
Sure, we can’t resist the basic milk chocolate Kit Kat found in stores everywhere in the United States. But folks in Canada can indulge in peanut butter ones, while hazelnut cream ones are sold in Germany, strawberry ones in Australia and tiramisu in the United Kingdom.
Japan, though, is where you’ll probably find the greatest array of specialty Kit Kat flavors, including azuki (red bean), pickled plum, wasabi and soy sauce, according to Wikipedia.
Last week, I snagged a bag of matcha Kit Kat bars at Nijiya market in San Jose’s Japantown. Yes, green tea-flavored ones.
These mini, Halloween-sized ones are a product of Japan. You get 13 mini ones to a $6.49 bag. Definitely not cheap.
Each individually wrapped bar can be separated into two fingers. Two bars have a total of 138 calories. With green tea paste and green tea cocoa powder in the ingredients list, the taste is that of mild, milky, quite sweet green tea.
I don’t know if they beat the standard milk chocolate ones, but they’re definitely a fun change of pace from the norm.
Launched in 1935 as Chocolate Crisp in York, England, the confection was supposedly named after the KitKat Club, an 18th Century Whig literacy club. “As the building had very low ceilings, it could accommodate only paintings that were wide but not too high. In the art world, such paintings became known as ‘kitkats.’ It is therefore conceivable that the humble Kit Kat derived its name from paintings that had to be snapped off to fit into low-ceiling rooms,” according to the Kit Kat Web site.
Just how popular has the candy remained?
According to the Web site, every five minutes, enough Kit Kats are produced to out stack the height of the Eiffel Tower.
Now, if only some of those other flavors would make it to our shores.
More Treats: Tim Tams from Australia
And: Dragon Beard Candy from Hong Kong
And: Goat Milk Caramels
And: Lard Caramels
And: Piggy Pops
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Thursday, 7. April 2011 5:46
Oh this is my all-time favourite Kit Kat flavour! I usually buy a big box in Tokyo or anyone who passes by Tokyo(at Narita airport) will be obligated to buy a box for me too
Thursday, 7. April 2011 6:07
That is interesting! I bet they taste great.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thursday, 7. April 2011 6:13
wow that is so wild. never heard of that. yes, i wish they would make other flavors that would make it to us too.
Thursday, 7. April 2011 7:12
I love kit kat! Never tried matcha ones but have tried strawberry cheesecake ones also frm Japan
The green kit kat looks so different! Thks for the info.
Thursday, 7. April 2011 7:46
I’m so curious about all those other flavors of Kit Kats. I’ve never tried any of them, but I keep looking. The matcha flavor sounds great!
Thursday, 7. April 2011 7:59
I love love matcha kit kats! I can’t believe you found them at Nijiya. I wonder if they have it at the Nijiya near me. I know I always look, but never see it. Sometimes Mitsuwa carries other flavors like milk tea and milk pudding, but I’ve never seen either store carry matcha. I’ll have to look soon!
Thursday, 7. April 2011 8:16
This is my favourite kit kat flavour!
Thursday, 7. April 2011 8:53
Yum…. Break me off a piece!
Thursday, 7. April 2011 8:58
I would love to get a bag of the matcha Kit Kats! How interesting about the different flavors – I had no idea they’d been tailored. Wonder what other candy bars have been modified depending on where sold. Thanks for the info. =)
Thursday, 7. April 2011 9:39
That bag is a much better value. The SF Nigija only sells the regular box and it’s almost $4 a box.
They also have a wasabi flavor in Japan!
Thursday, 7. April 2011 9:44
Jr. and I would love to taste these!
Thursday, 7. April 2011 16:08
I’m not a huge fan of kit kat but I did try these and the wasabi ones whilst in Japan. I love matcha and prefer to have it as a drink though
Thursday, 7. April 2011 17:21
Hey, I think that that Kit Kat looks really cool in green. Great idea – matcha kit kat. Wonder what they would think of next.
Thursday, 7. April 2011 21:16
Fascinating. I’d never have thought the plain old KitKat is not so plain elsewhere!
Sometimes I buy some of the strange (to us) candies in some of the Asian markets. Most of the time, not such a good experience. Interesting how much our taste is set by our culture.
Friday, 8. April 2011 1:04
i rem having these when i was in japan! yummy! id love to try adzuki and plum ones too (not sure about soy sauce..hmm!).
it some ways its a bit like macarons…with so many different flavour variations!
Friday, 8. April 2011 1:41
Ooh I stalk these whenever I go to Japan! Hubby is used to me having to pop into every single convenience store we walk past just to check to see if there are any new flavours!
Friday, 8. April 2011 2:20
Whoa, intriguing Kit Kat flavor!
Friday, 8. April 2011 5:30
I think I’ve tried about 50 different varieties of the Japanese KitKats by now! Some of them have been great, but others don’t quite work (like ginger ale, cola, and lemon squash).
Are you sure about the calorie counts? Usually, the mini bars are about 70 calories for two fingers.
Friday, 8. April 2011 7:25
Having a huge craving after viewing this post! These and the milk tea flavor are amazing!
Friday, 8. April 2011 7:53
Orchid64: Lemon squash flavored Kit Kats?!? Oh my! And I think you are right about the calorie count. The bag says it’s 138 calories for “two pieces.” I thought that meant “two fingers,” but now I see they must mean “two bars.” That’s good — that means I can eat an extra one now. LOL
Friday, 8. April 2011 9:05
Wow – I’m so jealous that you found those.
I might have to try a green tea KitKat instead of my morning matcha sometime…when I need a rocket blast of sugar to get me out the door!
Friday, 8. April 2011 19:09
I love trying the different varieties of familiar candy when I travel. My favorite was the exquisite M&Ms in Poland. Seriously high quality chocolate.
Saturday, 9. April 2011 4:42
[...] GREEN TEA KIT KATS EXIST, WHOA [...]
Saturday, 9. April 2011 16:34
omg, I love these!! I haven’t been able to find them since I visited Japan a couple years ago (granted, I don’t live in a very Asian city like San Jose). I wish I could order them online!
Sunday, 10. April 2011 8:48
OMG…This looks amazing!! The Kit Kat bars from Japan. Although I was raised in America I am half Asian, the other African-American so my palate is quite strange.
I’ll eat almost anything!
Sunday, 10. April 2011 9:13
My colleagues traveling to Asia all understand that they must bring me back Kit Kats. I currently have Matcha, Wasabi (my latest favorite), Sweet Potato, Strawberry Cheesecake & Cherry Blossom.
Sunday, 10. April 2011 17:19
This is so cool! I’ve heard about this, but I’ve never gotten the chance to try them! They should have some of these flavors in the US. I’m sure people would love to try them! Oh, and thanks for the info about the name! I love stuff like that.
Monday, 11. April 2011 13:30
wow, I had no idea! How cool, I will have to look for these exciting flavors, mmmm wasabi kitkats!
Monday, 11. April 2011 20:45
of everything i brought back from my travels in asia, the japanese kit kats of varying flavors were the biggest hit. i only wish i could’ve brought back more, so tasty, i love the matcha and milk tea ones. the wasabi ones are kind of fun too
Friday, 15. April 2011 21:53
I had to buy the melon flavored ones when I was in Japan (i love melons!) But I couldn’t get past the first bite! Fun to try but I think I’ll stick with the milk chocolate
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Tuesday, 17. May 2011 5:26
[...] More Confections Worth Trying: Matcha Kit Kat [...]
Tuesday, 7. June 2011 22:27
I just found a company called Jade Monk who is coming out with some great flavored matcha drinks. I contacted them and they said it should be out within a month. Check them out at http://www.jademonk.com
Tuesday, 21. June 2011 5:30
Hi,
This is so interesting! I had no idea–and i’ve been to a few countries and never noticed. Next time i’m in the UK, i’m scoping out the tiramisu kind!
vitra
Tuesday, 21. June 2011 6:53
tiramisu??? What is that?