You might need some good dental insurance.
Kagawa Prefecture, the land of the thick and starchy noodles known as udon, uses the slurping food in a number of interesting ways, from celebrating a newly constructed bath with the neighborhood to soothing crying babies. On his way back from his tour of the prefecture, where he enjoyed the art-filled island of Naoshima, our Japanese-language reporter Kouhey found a mysterious souvenir as he was wandering around Takamatsu Airport that many people seemed to be picking up: Udon Gummies.
Intrigued, Kouhey looked a little closer to find that they only cost 540 yen (US$3.55), and encouraged by the reasonable price, he bought his own box to try. With the stand mentioning that the gummies had been featured on a national news program, his expectations were high.
Upon returning home, Kouhey immediately began to inspect the Udon Gummies.
Printed on the top of the package were the words: “Warning: Strong Koshi”.
Koshi is a Japanese term to refer to the chewiness of the noodles. Sanuki udon is a famous Kagawa chewy udon style that the gummies appear to be attempting to emulate.
Looking a little closer, there was another warning: “Super hard. It’s chewy. Be careful.”
How hard can these Udon Gummies really be? Sure gummies are meant to be chewy, but how chewy do they actually need to be to warrant all of these warnings? Kouhey couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into them.
Opening up the box, he found a package wrapped in something like newspaper.
Unwrapping the newspaper, Kouhey revealed 10 Udon Gummies.
When he sat back a little, Kouhey took another look at the newspaper. Initially writing it off as a regular newspaper repurposed for packaging, he was surprised to find out that it was an entirely original creation entitled “Sanuki Gummy Newspaper”.
Among the many “articles,” were headlines like “The Birth of Udon Gummy” and an “Instruction Manual” for them. Kouhey could feel the love and effort that went into the creation of these gummies through the imagination and attention to detail seen in the newspaper.
After admiring the newspaper for a little while longer, Kouhey was ready to try one of these Udon Gummies for himself.
He picked one up and popped it into his mouth. His immediate reaction?
“How can these be THIS hard?!?”
The Udon Gummies were so much harder than Kouhey had been expecting. He had never tried anything quite like it. He squeezed another, pinching it between his fingers to test the elasticity, and realized that the soft, bouncy feel of a normal gummy was completely absent.
Biting into it, rather than sinking his teeth into a soft chew, Kouhey could only do his best to crunch on these gummies.
As he committed himself to chewing, Kouhey finally understood the meaning of “super hard” on the packaging. The company who made them was not joking when they wrote that; these gummies offer a hardness capable of giving your jaw an entire workout with just one piece.
Surprisingly, the flavor of the gummies was not udon-flavored at all, but more yogurt with a hint of sudachi (a Japanese citrus fruit). It had a light, refreshing taste that wasn’t overly sweet. However, next to the shocking impact of the firmness of the gummies, the flavor left a lesser impression.
Kouhey had also picked up a pack of actual Sanuki udon noodles while at the Takamatsu Airport souvenir shop, so he decided to whip up a batch for a direct comparison with the gummies they had inspired.
First came the real deal, Kouhey lifted up the udon noodles with his chopsticks and took a slurp.
It was no surprise that the genuine article was in a class of its own, being both chewy and smooth. With every chewy bite, the taste of the wheat spread throughout his mouth.
Next up, the challenger: Udon Gummies. How do they compare?
At first, it was tough to chew, but gradually it began to resemble the distinct springiness of Sanuki udon. With the real udon, the texture softens to a chewy texture as you bite, but the Udon Gummies retain that firm springiness throughout.
As he was putting his jaw through the workout of a lifetime, Kouhey noticed a line in the Sanuki Gummy News that read: “For an even more amazing texture, chill before eating.”
Could it possibly get even harder than this? Kouhey silently apologized to his jaw muscles as he found himself putting some of the Udon Gummies into the fridge.
A few hours later, Kouhey took them out and tried another one.
They had evolved from “super hard” to “ultra hard.”
At room temperature they were already tough to chew through, but now they were like little blocks of iron, taking serious effort to bite through. Even so, that toughness became addictive, with the more Kouhey chewed, the more the flavor seemed to emerge. He can’t wait to eat more, but he’ll probably have to give his jaw a little time to recover first.
The Udon Gummies turned out to be a lot firmer than originally anticipated. They seemed to have risen beyond the boundaries of what “gummies” are and become products filled with the love of Sanuki udon. Even for just the experience alone, these souvenirs are a must buy if you ever find yourself in Kagawa, the most satisfying prefecture to visit.
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[ Read in Japanese ]
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