Matcha, Matcha, Matcha!!!

You know I’m obsessed with matcha right? Well, last December I went crazy in Hong Kong and bought everything green that I saw. There were a few finds and some duds. 

I saw a picture of Meiji Rich Matcha Biscuits in Instagram and found a local reseller who quickly sent a couple of boxes to me. Most matcha confectionery is made with white chocolate for the flavor of the matcha (green tea powder) to shine without being too bitter or overwhelming. I don’t like white chocolate so finding a dark chocolate cookie with strong matcha filling was like hitting the jackpot for me. This is my matcha holy grail. Some find it too bitter but I love it. 

 

Semaru is a candy and snack store in Prince Edward that I always go to as part of my Fa Yuen street shopping. You can see the video on how to get there on my post yesterday. In the video this store is labeled ‘Candy Store.’ The contents here are definitely cheaper than in the supermarket or stores in the mall. 

 

The price is much cheaper than Manila resellers so I stocked up. 

 

They have so many, many other Japanese snacks but picture taking isn’t allowed so pardon the blurry pics.

 

This was my hoard. I left some Meiji rich matcha boxes in the shelf for the other shoppers. 😀

 

The flower shaped cookie on the top left was just ok. It was soft and a bit sandy in texture but it had a good matcha flavor. The chocolate and matcha ripple on the bottom left was delicious!! The flavors were strong and spot on. The Lotte to it’s right was forgettable. I even thought it was mint flavor instead of matcha. 

 

Meiji Kyo Matcha chocolate had a medium strength matcha flavor which passed my standards but it wasn’t creamy at all. It was like all the butter cream was sucked out. Imagine matcha powder mixed with water and formed into squares. It wasn’t really that horrible but it’s something I wouldn’t buy again. I prefer something with a creamier mouthfeel. 

 

On a second trip to Semaru I got these. I haven’t tried the Glico cookies and the Brilliant Truffe. 

 

Meiji Torotto is a light chocolate cookie with a mild matcha filling. Not bad but I’ll pass.

 

This Meltykiss didn’t have any English words so I took a chance because I was curious what it was. Imagine a cube of chocolate cake dipped in some kind of mild liqueur and dipped in chocolate. Quite interesting. There were only a few pieces inside the box, much less than the Meltykiss chocolates.

 

I have a discount card thus the 5% deduction.

From Fa Yuen Street I walked all the way to Mong Kok when I chanced upon a new store on Argyle Street called 1027 Yamada. This store was right across Sin Tat Plaza, the cellphone mecca where you can find all kinds of accessories and direct import phones. Sin Tat is where you can find Apple products the next day it launched from the US. You know those people lining up for days in the Apple stores in the US? A lot of their purchases end up in Sin Tat. (video directions)

 

This store carried exclusively Japanese products. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many Japanese sweet and savory snacks in one store. I felt dizzy for a while. 

 

Argghhh!! It was even cheaper there. If I’m not mistaken this costs HK$25 in CitySuper. 

 

So many products I ignored because they weren’t green. 😀

 

I didn’t buy this box of matcha tarts but my friend Jennie surprised me with one from her trip to Japan. I haven’t tried it yet. 

 I don’t have a Lane Crawford card but I do have Semaru and 1027 Yamada VIP cards!! Loser ba? 

 

I don’t normally buy Meltykiss but I couldn’t resist trying the limited edition green tea flavor. OMG it was soooo good! Super creamy mouthfeel and strong matcha flavor. I just didn’t buy it again after I saw the ingredients: Sugar, Palm Oil, Cacao Mass, Skim Milk, Cocao Butter, Lactose, Coca Powder, Cream Butter, Butter Oil, Lecithin (soy), Flavor, Ascorbic Acid, Tocopherol, Cheese Powder.

I just don’t want to eat chocolates with palm oil as the second ingredient. Take note of the prices. The cheapest I saw was at Mannings for HK$17.80 all the way to HK$30 at CitySuper. Caveat emptor. 

 

Yes I bought green tea toilet paper for our apartment. 

 I love matcha. Anyone else out there?