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.
Pretz is not a Japanese candy. Pretz is Pocky’s evil savory cousin. Ok, so it’s not evil except that like Pocky, it’s rather addicting. I was very pleased to find Tomato Pretz because I used to eat the stuff almost daily when I lived in Japan. I haven’t had it in years, but when I put it in my mouth, there was that taste I remember.
Pretz has the same stay-fresh packaging as Pocky and each stick has a lovely crunch. Tomato Pretz has seasoning powder on it. The seasoning doesn’t really taste like just tomato – I’ve always found it tastes like the spawn of a Nabisco Chicken in a Biskit Cracker and a bloody mary. And for some reason, that leads to a major yum factor. Since this is the U.S. version, I was actually able to read the ingredients and did find an ingredient list which is quite similar to the ingredients of bloody marys (minus the vodka) and Chicken in a Biskit crackers! I hope my dear vegetarian friend M. who introduced me to Tomato Pretz years ago in Toyama-ken doesn’t read this because turns out Tomato Pretz isn’t vegetarian and we’re not talking gelatin this time. The ingredient list includes chicken extract powder, various vegetable extracts and MSG. As I write this review, I’m realizing that ignorance really is bliss – I liked Japanese processed food better when the ingredient list was just a big ol’ mess o’ kanji! That being said, Tomato Pretz will always have a special place in my heart (and stomach)!
This Tomato Pretz was purchased in the asian candy aisle at Central Market, Shoreline, Washington (a few miles north of Seattle.) There are four packets of Tomato Pretz in the box. These showed up on my receipt incorrectly as GLICO ICHIGO PRETZ, but I think the price is the same – $2.59.
Tomato Pretz are a uniquely flavored, yummy, crunchy snack. And like other pretzel snacks, you can pretend you’re being somewhat virtuous because you’re having pretzels, not chips, so it’s practically health food. Recommended. 4/5
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