American Hi-Chew – Mango and Green Apple

Amanda is a guest blogger. She lives in Seattle. Her hobbies include eating junk food (foreign and domestic), Bikram yoga, and making crafty things with yarn and fabric. She lived in Japan for 2 years.

Long ago (2001-2003), I lived in rural Japan and taught English at a junior high school.  One day at school, one of the kids asked me I like Hi-Chew.  At first I thought the kid meant Chu-hai (Japan’s version of wine coolers, but better – and yes, I like it), but I got clarification and learned that it’s a “soft candy.”  I bought some after school.  It reminded me a bit of Starburst but with some added deliciousness.  I usually prefer chocolate nutty candy (Snickers, Twix) rather than fruity candies, but I got hooked on Hi-Chew.  For years, I’ve been wondering what it is that makes Hi-Chew so much more delicious than other fruit candies.

Fast forward to last week.  I visited my local 7-11 to buy a Peanut Butter Twix, but found Hi-Chew right next to the register.  I ate half of the pack of the Mango Hi-Chew on the walk home.  It has a much better mouth feel than Starburst.  I looked at the ingredients on the label. What makes it so good?  Is it the hydrogenated palm kernal oil? The paprika and carotene for color?  The traces of milk and soy from the factory in Taiwan?

I pondered these ingredients for a while and then decided to let my fingers do the walking.  I found hichew.com and checked the FAQs.  I now suspect that the je ne sais quoi is the gelatin made from pig hide.  I’m not a vegetarian so I’m not really opposed to eating pork products in candy and to be honest, it’s nice to have the mystery solved.  There is something special in Hi-Chew and it’s pork.  But vegetarians may want to avoid American Hi-Chew.  Six flavors of Hi-Chew are available in the U.S. – melon (new!), mango, orange, grape, green apple and strawberry.  My local 7-11 sells mango, green apple and strawberry.

The Green Apple Hi-Chew tastes quite artificial to me.  I found it a bit too sweet because I’m always thinking that Green Apple will be more tart and Granny Smith-esque than it is in Japanese products. It’s not a bad candy though and I was able to finish the package because Hi-Chew is ridiculously addicting. 3/5

The Mango Hi-Chew is very tropical and yummy.  It has a strong mango flavor without any of the bitter aftertaste often present in actual mangos.  The texture is great.  Mango seems a bit more exotic and upscale than your typical convenience store candies. Seems like a real bargain for $.99! 5/5

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