Botan Rice Candy

Botan Rice Candy in both it's wrappers.

Botan Rice Candy is a traditional candy from Japan. In North America, it is commonly associated with the colorful green and orange packaging used by its main importer, JFC International. 

Packaging used in North America.

Each candy comes individually wrapped in an edible “wrapper” made of rice paper that melts in your mouth. The candy is described as having a lemon or orange flavor. It is becoming increasingly popular in the United States and is sometimes sold alongside mainstream North American sweets.

My Experience

It’s impossible for me to write this from the point of view of someone just trying this wonderful candy for the first time. Although I started this blog mostly because I wanted to try new things, the truth is I’ve been enjoying Botan Rice Candies since I was ten years old. In fact, I have them on a fairly regular basis.

I've gone through four of them just writing this post.

My first experience with them occurred just over ten years ago in Epcot Center at the Walt Disney World Orlando Resort in Central Florida. The World Showcase: Japan exhibit had several small candy shops in its town square. Given my love of novelry, not to mention my undying obsession with Japan — it was only a matter of time until I stumbled upon a Japanese candy with an edible wrapper that melts in your mouth.

Unfortunately, the very thing that attracted me to the candy in the first place is pretty much its weakest point. The “wrapper” is actually a small layer of rice paper, which is itself wrapped by a traditional plastic covering. No, I don’t mean “traditional” as in some kind of centuries old, ceremonial machine-printed plastic. I mean “traditional” as in you’d find it wrapping those hard peppermints the old folks seem so crazy about.

The problem with this “wrapper” is that is sticks to the candy, and is very often inseparable from it. Did you ever have Fruit Roll-Ups as a kid? If you didn’t, I bet your goody two-shoes parents also fed you granola and taught you things like “values” and the “importance of reading.” Pansies.

Box = not edible.

For those of you who didn’t have filthy, Dr. Spock worshiping hippies for parents, the rice wrapper is a little like the paper that would come attached to Fruit Roll-Ups. Let the box get too hot and it would be impossible to separate the two, and so you’d inevitably end up just eating the whole thing, paper and all. Let’s face it, once mom opened that box there was no stopping you. You were eating that sugary, congealed red dye #5 come hell or high water, but you couldn’t say hell because you’d get slapped — or if you had those hippie parents you’d be sent to your room and “talked to”. Pffft. Like that would ever work.

The upside is that the inner wrapper is tasty and quite pleasant as it melts in your mouth and gives way to the stronger flavor of the actual candy — which has a very prominent citrus taste, strong hints of lemon and a nice orange twist. The texture is chewy, but not comparable to another Japanese favorite, Hi-Chew. It chews more like a piece of caramel, slight crumbling, tiny bit of crustiness. It might be compared to the way a Tootsie Roll chews.

Each box comes with a small sticker, sometimes a temporary tattoo. I like to wear the stickers as tats anyway, gives me an excuse to show off the goods.

The goods = pasty skin and arm pimples.

Import Options

Botan Rice Candy is available across North America. If you live in the United States, find the international section of your local Kroger, HEB, Publix or Safeway store and look there to start. In most places the candies sell for about 1.00 USD a box.

Besides the JFC International brand, there is another company, Tamoe, who doesn’t sell much in retail locations outside of Japan but have their products available online, some of which can be shipped directly from the country.

Place of Origin

Japan is an island nation that’s steeped in tradition yet innovative and progressive. Japanese cuisine is quite a common international delicacy to Westerners. However a good deal of the bizarre never leaves its borders. Take Shirako, a dish made of the male genitalia of certain varieties of fish, like cod and pufferfish. Another dish that may cause a few Westerners to gag, or perhaps even cry, is Basashi, which is raw horse meat. Mmm… pass the seabiscuit, mah.

Some traditional Japanese food.

Rooibos

Rooibos loose leaf tea.

Rooibos (pronounced “Roy-Boss”), in generic terms, is an herbal tea originating in South Africa. It is also known as bush tea, red tea, or redbush tea. In South Africa, it is often prepared with milk and sugar. In the United States, as is common with most teas, it is usually enjoyed plain or with sweetener to taste. It is naturally sweet and has a vibrant, yet pleasant aroma. Some importers have added chai to their rooibos, which gives it a spice-like kick.

I reserve the right to exaggerate tremendously.

The health benefits of regular rooibos drinking are impressive. The tea contains high levels of antioxidants, which aid with dermatological issues such as acne. In my personal experience, I found the acne fighting properties of rooibos are particularly strong. While drinking strong cups regularly, I stopped using other dermatological treatments altogether and my skin hadn’t been so clear in ages. Other long term benefits include the cancer fighting properties of  two of it’s flavonoids, quercetin and luteolin.

Caffeine is absent in rooibos. It has gentle, calming effects that assist in conquering nervousness and combat insomnia. This makes it the perfect cup of tea to wind down with at night.

Import Options

Rooibos has become a very popular alternative to green tea in the West, and is therefor easy to find in most tea shops and even neighborhood grocery stores. Importing from South Africa doesn’t need to be done directly, and the leaves can be purchased from a number of online vendors.

Loose Leaf

I recommend Teavana’s blends for those who are new to teas and want a tasteful, gourmet brew. The company also sells sweeteners like rock sugar and honey, which can sweeten the blend to taste without overpowering it. Teavana teas are available online and in a limited number of locations across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

For pure rooibos and other red teas, try Mountain Rose Herbs. The company also offers bulk importing of plant material.

Bagged

Bagged varieties of rooibos can be purchased just about anywhere. Twining‘s sells a decent blend that can commonly be found in grocery stores. It is important to note, however, that bagged tea of any variety lacks the full flavor of freshly brewed loose leaf tea. It is comparable to a hamburger you would order at a fast food restaurant, it can be tasty, but it’s more the idea of a hamburger than a true, gourmet hamburger.

The reason for this is the teas found in bags are usually composed of leftovers, smaller pieces of plant material or “scrapings” from the vendor’s loose leaf varieties. Because they are mass produced and mass marketed, they are usually kept in improper conditions and may even contain unnatural preservatives to maintain an artificial “freshness.”

Place of Origin

South Africa, known officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. The cuisine includes a lot of meat dishes, with a type of preparation known as Braai (Afrikaans for grilled meat) quite popular. Desserts like melktert — a confection similar to a pie with filling made of flour, sugar, milk and eggs — and koeksisters, which are similar to doughnuts, are also common.

The country is well known for its vineyards and is one of the leading producers of wine in the world.

Some traditional South African foods.