umamimart

My new favorite ice-cream product is Chocobari. The closest translation for the Japanese word “bari” in English is the onomatopoeia “crunch.”

I first knew of Chocobari in the summer months when they were running ads for it on TV. I couldn’t find the actual ad I saw on Youtube, but here’s one I was able to dig up that looks kind of old, above.

Everything about Chocobari screams artificial. The “crunch” is provided by pellets of ground peanuts and flour. While the ice-cream isn’t actually even ice-cream, but instead “ice-milk” which is a poor man’s version of ice-cream that’s quite common in Japan.

Ice-milk close up:

The result is addictive. It totally lives up to its name – providing a crisp chocolate shell with brown pellets that really deliver crunch impact. It’s similar to a Crunch ice-cream bar, but its size is much more generous and it’s something about the Japanese touch that makes it forgivably artificial.

The best part: Chocobari is only ¥126 and readily available at 7-11’s and Family Marts across Japan.