Frutips Black Currant

 I'm sorta a big deal

The Attraction

I've seen this candy around at various points in my "Asian" life. It was time I wrote a proper review of this perennial treat.

The Review:
Ask any Hong Kong native or frequent visitor to the island about this snack and most likely they will be familiar with it. Frutips in HK are like the equivalent of Lifesavers or Tic Tacs here in the States. Every grocery / convenience store carries these snack stables. I vaguely remember seeing these at various point of my childhood growing up. Even though I was raised in the US, I remember seeing the packaging of these snacks when I would visit HK or when someone would visit from HK and would bring a few roll of these for someone I knew.

Tunnel of yummy goodness?

I have forgotten about this snack years ago, until about 3 years ago, a former colleague of mine with friends in Hong Kong would have them ship her these gummy pastilles to her several times a year. She was kind enough to share some with me and it immediately brought me back to my younger days.

What's curious about it is that although gummies are not an unusual favorite of children and grown-ups alike, the famous flavor of these Frutips are black currant. Yes, black currant. You may be asking, what the heck flavor is that? Well, it looks like a grape and blueberry. It's better explained here.

Gummy and chewy

In any regard, the black currant flavor is far more familiar to folks in Asia and in Europe. So much so that another black currant flavored treat, Ribina, is also very popular in Hong Kong. Fortunately, you can get these concentrated drink mixes here in the US.

What makes these treats so tasty? They are gummy, but not overly sweet, with a subtle tartness to them. The gummy texture is also not too gummy. It doesn't get all in your teeth to the point where you have to use your tongue or worst, your finger, to get the candy our of your teeth. I'm drooling a little just thinking about them now.

The Sweet:
Gummy, chewy, slightly sour treats that are highly addicting

The Bitter:
Hard to find outside of Asia

Conclusion:
There's a reason why this gummy treat is so popular in HK. It's not too sweet and the chewy consistency makes it tough to resist a multiple pastille tasting. Unfortunately, these are usually not sold in the US, so they are a tough item to come by, but when you do, after trying it, you'll be hording a few rolls of these the next time you happen upon them.

Video of the Week

Boy, the things you can win these days in the claw machine

A slightly pervy, yet genius of a business person in Taiwan came up with the idea of putting bikini-clad women in the claw machine games to draw more players. This may surprise you, but it seemed to have worked in a big way. No, you can't select the model with the claw (unfortunately) and it's probably not a good idea to play one of these machines while you are on a date, unless you want to potentially just go home alone.

Pomelo

 No, I'm not a giant pear!

The Attraction

As part of my recent trip to Taiwan, I had the chance to try this obscure fruit in the US, that happened to be in season on my visit.  

The Review:
These pomelos were all over the place when I was in Taiwan. Every market had them, I saw truck fulls of them everywhere I went. I even saw fancier versions of them wrapped preciously in paper and packaged in boxes. What the heck must these things taste like if they are so popular? Oh heck, what do I have to lose?

My in-laws had a big box of these in their house and one night after dinner, they busted out a few for us to have. I was a little nervous at first as I've never had one before so I had no idea how to begin to eat it. They were kind enough to cut it open for us, so at least I knew not to bite into it like an apple.

Once it was opened, it looked very similar to a giant orange or a large grapefruit. I wasn't sure how to feel exactly. I love oranges, but more lukewarm towards grapefruits. Either way, I had to try it now. I can't not have a little in front of the whole family.

Look how big this sucker is compared to my hand!

When I picked up a half, it was clear that even though it looks like an orange, the skin surrounding the actual pomelo flesh itself was much thicker and tougher. Almost like you have a really dry grapefruit skin.

Sure enough, people begin peeling off the skin around the flesh and ate the juice vesicles. (not to be confused with juice testicles, which is something I just made up). I followed in suite and stared at the fruit of my labors for a moment. Then I popped it in my mouth. After all that work, this better be worth it...

Tasty little bit

As I chomped down on the pomelo, there was a burst of citrus juice in my mouth; it tasted like an orange at first, but before it could get sweet like a conventional orange, a tartness settled in like a grapefruit. Wow...how interesting. It's literally like an orange and grapefruit combined; not as tart as a grapefruit, but not as sweet as an orange.

Is that a good or bad thing?

I laboriously picked thought a few more pieces to see if it would become any clearer to me, but it didn't. I did eat all the pieces that I extracted...that must mean something, I think.

The Sweet:
It's a great snack if you are looking for something new with a sweet and slightly tart twist.

The Bitter:
Takes some work to get to the good stuff

Conclusion:
Pomelos are a strange snack to me; they didn't really strike me as anything special when I first had them. They didn't bowl me over the way persimmons did when I first had them, so I thought I could take them or leave them. However as more time passes since my last encounter, I find myself looking for them in Asian markets.

Maybe Pomelos are like that female friend that you always got along with and had a great time with, but you never really thought about because they were always there. It wasn't until they weren't around anymore that you realized how much you missed them.

Yes, what I think I'm trying to say is say is Pomelos are like Rachael Leigh Cook in "She's All That"

Video of the Week

Great, it's going to kill me, in a stylish way

After warning you for months, if not years that these things (here and here) are going to take over the world and kill us, they've now made a robot that can jump and flip. I'm human and I can't do half the stuff this robot can do. We are doomed. Calling Kyle Reese, come in Kyle Reese.