You really have to hand it to the little convenience store downstairs from my office–Bashir brings in some really varied treats. Plus, he keeps me in functioning headphones–without which I would probably snap and end up on the news.
Recently, he started carrying a whole bunch of Hi-Chew flavors. I’ll admit, I didn’t know what the hell they were. At a glance, I thought it was gum, and regular readers know how I feel about gum. But they had a banana flavor, so after a few trips, I finally decided to take the plunge. After all, once I looked closer, I couldn’t see anything telling me that it actually WAS gum. So, chewy, banana flavor…maybe something like Laffy Taffy, one of my favorite childhood candies? I figured I’d give it a go, and pick up some tropical Now & Later to round out the experience.
Thus steeled for the experience, I went back to my desk and began the taste test. The Hi-Chew were in a damn durable foil pack, so it’s a good thing they had one of those “pull to open” string things, otherwise this would have been a short post. I don’t have a knife at my desk to open them otherwise (see previous comment about headphones).
Once I finally worked my way down to the candy, I was unimpressed with the visual presentation. It looked a bit like a small, rectangular rubber eraser.
Then I put it in my mouth.
This did not help the rubber eraser impression.
I won’t lie to you gentle readers–my first thought was, “Huh. People eat these? On purpose?”
It was enough of a WTF for my tongue that I immediately looked Hi-Chew up online to get a bit of context. Then it all started to make sense. Hi-Chew is a Japanese candy.
Don’t get me wrong. It didn’t make sense in a, “Those people are seriously deranged. No wonder they like this!” It made sense in a, “Oh! It’s like Botan Rice Candy in texture! And it’s not super-sweet like an American candy would be.” So put down the pitchforks and let’s ride this through to the end like adults.
See, in Japanese culture, they don’t take food out of their mouth after it’s gone in. This makes gum sort of a non-starter over there. To remedy that, a candy was created that had a lot of the chewiness of gum, but you could swallow it. The candy, invented by Taichiro Morinaga, was called Chewlets when it debuted in 1931, and was renamed Hi-Chew after the factory was rebuilt following the end of WWII. Yeah. We bombed a candy factory. What kind of dicks bomb a candy factory, unless it’s staffed by Ooompa-Loompas?
There are seven flavors of Hi-Chew available in the states (where you can find it at all): Strawberry, Green Apple, Mango, Melon, Grape, Peach, and Banana. While the Banana didn’t have the same strong artificial sweetness of Laffy Taffy (which I love), it still tastes pretty good. The texture, while a surprise, was the biggest shocker. American candy just doesn’t have anything that quite matches that mouth-feel. But if you’ve had rice candy, you’ve had something close. It’s not quite gum, and not quite taffy. It’s just what it is. And knowing that, I’m looking forward to trying some of the other flavors–Melon in particular.
In its home country, they have more flavors than I could reliably list. It’s like the Kit-Kat. Japan gets all the cool flavors; we get Pralines & Dick. Really. Check the sidebar on the link and try not to feel a bit cheated. Even if I wouldn’t care about half those flavors, just knowing of the choices I’m denied is crap.
Would I suggest Hi-Chew to a casual candy consumer? You know, it doesn’t cost anything more than a regular and boring candy bar, or a pack of Mamba or Now & Later. And you might like the subtleties of flavor, and the lighter mouth-feel.
Really, after a few of the Banana Hi-Chew, the tropical Now & Later were way too aggressive. Like a creepy dude at a bar who keeps insisting he buy you a drink even though you’re there with your friends, don’t want his number, and have to go to work in the morning. I just wanted the flavor of the Now & Later to back off, play it light and casual.
It’s not gum. Not quite taffy. It’s kind of a mutant. But it’s a mutant which rewards the adventurous tastes.
Tales from the Ragged Edge 
I too, am deeply sad about the weak Kit-Kat selection. There are a few shops in LA that offer a couple alternative flavors. I’ve tried the creme brûlée and green tea varieties.
I had a friend recently go to Japan. Really missed my chance to have him pick some of the stranger flavors for me. I’d love to try the sweet potato.
Nathan, I could make it happen. Shoot me an email.
Are you with the fabled International candy cartel that I’ve always dreamed of but never dared believe is real? I’m putting together an email how! I’m always game for new flavors! 😀
I think this is very much like the experience westerners often have when they first taste Asian pastries which are typically steamed rather than baked. Hi-Chew was carried in the UW snack shops for many years and when Sean and I were dating, it was one of our favourite ways to use up his meal points. I still love their exotic flavours and elastic texture!
Strawberry and Mango are awesome.. banana and melon are so-so. HI-CHEW is the shit!
Thanks for the Mango flavor afternoon pick-me-up, Crowder-San . . .
I know this blog is very very old, but I have to comment anyhow. First I have to say, this is the funniest thing I’ve read I a long time. I actually laughed out loud:) I love when people put their real feelings into what they write. Its seems most hold back now days out of fear of backlash. Who gives a crap what others think, they don’t like what you write, they don’t have to read. Now onto how I stumbled upon this hidden gem. I too found myself wondering what these candies were. After several trips to the gas station I finally decided go get them. That led me here. I swear its like we did the EXACT same thing. I ate one & thought “What the hell is this?”. I knew immediately it must be foreign. I found out it was from Japan by reading the package. Then I googled it bc I still needed to know what it was supposed to be. Candy??? Gum?? Taffy?? IDK?? That’s when I found its Wikipedia page then your blog. I’m not sure how I feel about the candy though. It’s definitely different. I got Grape & Mango. I prefer the Grape.
Thank you! Weirdly, more people find my site because of Hi-Chew than any other post I’ve done. I still find myself drawn to them every now and then. I suspect it’s because I need something different. The grape is pretty decent. I’m kind of partial to the Melon or Green Apple flavors.
I just wanted to know what the natural and artificial flavors comes from, is it from the beavers anal gland secretions or not? Any way to find out the source of the flavors?
Sadly, as unfortunate as gland secretions are, they’re covered under the catch-all of “Natural and artificial” so they’re under no requirement in the U.S. to divulge that. Wish I knew, because EWWWWW!
Thanks so much