himbo soda and anime penny candy

unsnackable vol. 12

I've been considering getting a weighted blanket. Not because I’m having trouble sleeping. Because it is the time of year when my bed gains a magnetic pull around 5:30 PM. I don't even have the threat of social obligations to discourage me from indulging in this (presumably) harmful impulse.

An impulse that would become more indulgent if I could combine my dual-zone heated blanket with the power of a weighted blanket. I would be unstoppable! Or the exact opposite of that, since I would be barely dressed, fully sedentary, and incredibly cozy.

I try to appreciate my idle time because it is precious and because I helped my mother prepare dozens of PowerPoint presentations on pressure ulcers before she retired from medicine so those images are seared into my mind. Reading is easily my number one activity, followed by hardcore gaming (Animal Crossing, Pokemon Go), and watching subtitled anime.

I've been watching Dagashi Kashi, an anime that doubles as unsnackable research. The show follows the saga of an aspiring manga artist trying to escape the expectation of becoming the 9th generation in his family to sell Dagashi( penny candy.) Dagashi Kashi features actual brands and varieties of Dagashi, forcing me into a google spiral after every episode to learn more. I’m not sure if the BigKatsu snack pictured below would capture the flavor of tonkatsu but it probably gets pretty close for a few cents.

While trying them will cost you more than a penny, I'm still excited to share some more unsnackables

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the unsnackables

sweet

天凯乐葱锋饼冰淇淋 (China)

Early in quar, I fell into the survivalist cosplay of regrowing scallions in my windowsill. It was mostly successful until my regrowth outpaced my consumption and that murky "why are you trying to grow food when your apartment doesn't have counters" smell lingered. Maybe I could have avoided that if I was innovative enough to know that I could combine scallion-chocolate cookies, toffee sauce, and scallion ice cream into an ice cream sandwich.

salty

Чипсы LAY’S картофельные Красная икра (Russia)

International chip flavors are just a meditation on the forms salt can take. There is no market that I trust to handle the savory brininess of red caviar better than Russia.

thirsty

JARIMBA HIMBO (Switzerland)

2020 has been the year of the himbo discourse, and while it has been dizzyingly inaccurate we can all agree that a himbo should be sweet. So this raspberry soda feels like it has earned the himbo moniker. Switzerland seems to have a unique appreciation for himbos because Swiss scientists also developed a variety of raspberry called the "Himbo-Top".

boozy

WINTER-SAHNELIKÖR SPEKULATIUS( Germany)

There are a few flavors that seem to appear in limited edition snacks all around the world. Nutella (or chocolate hazelnut) snacks pop up in Brazil as much as they appear in their home European markets. Variants of speculoos or cookie butter aren't quite at that level, but they are close. I'm surprised that I haven't seen a cookie butter liqueur before now, but I wish I could add it to a cup of coffee or hot cocoa.

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unsnackableIRL

KIRIN LEMON (Japan) - This week (and a significant portion of my grocery budget) was devoted to attempting to cook my way out of a depressing solo thanksgiving. The dry citrus flavor of this soda kept me going during a full day of cooking this beautiful meal.

duck fat confit turkey & gravy, jalapeño & chorizo stuffing, triple cheddar biscuit with charred scallion compound butter, roasted sweet potato w/ maple creme fraiche+ chili crisp, wild rice with duck fat roasted leeks+mushroom, pickled cranberries, mini pumpkin cream pie with malted maple whipped cream

I’m still figuring this out, but hopefully, you enjoyed v.12 of unsnackable.

If you didn’t please don’t tell me, tell your friends to subscribe because they hopefully have better taste than you.

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Think you’ll miss me before unsnackable v.13 comes to your inbox? follow me on other parts of the internet and tell me about what you’re snacking on or tell me which snacks and beverages have himbo energy

I’ll try any snack at least once, so don’t be shy if there is something you want to send me to try.

I think there has been a lot more discussion about substack as a platform lately and I’ve considered shifting this newsletter to a paid subscription (because I do spend a lot of time researching snacks!) but I like sending something nice to your inboxes for free every week, so if you’d like to support my snack related endeavors you can find me on venmo at thefolu or on paypal