As Japan continues to make an ice cream flavor of every conceivable thing, the limited Ottotto Ice is now only available at Family Mart.
As we have documented over the years, Japan has condensed a vast number of tastes into the ice cream medium at one point or another. Now, we have convenience store chain Family Mart and major food producer Morinaga teaming up to give a classic Japanese snack the frozen milky treatment.
The snack in question is called Ottotto. A convenience store mainstay for 35 years, these fried potato puffs are lightly seasoned and made in the shape of various sea creatures and nautical shapes like anchors. Although not identical, they may best be compared to Goldfish crackers found in other countries in terms of taste and texture.
They go great in a soup or alongside a beer while watching TV, but as an ice cream?
Upon opening the package, we were quite shocked at how plain the ice cream looked. It was so white and smooth, you might have thought you were digging into a regular old cup of vanilla. However, that’s where the mundane ends.
One stickful is all you need to get a blast of the same salty potato flavor of Ottotto mixed into a vanilla ice cream base. The saltiness of the Ottotto and the sweetness of the ice cream didn’t mix at all, but they did compliment each other as they mingled in the mouth for a great result.
The lid of the ice cream also playfully mentioned that there weren’t actually Ottotto crackers inside.
▼ “I’m not inside!”
However, the flavoring was so authentic, I thought why the heck not?
Sure enough, as a testament to how well they mimicked the flavor, adding actual Ottotto crackers didn’t affect the overall taste at all! The texture was rather nice though.
The ice cream is available at Family Mart locations across Japan, while supplies last, for 140 yen (US$1.29) each. These limited edition flavors tend to go fast, so go soon if you want a taste of this unique ice cream collaboration.
Source: Morinaga (Japanese)
Photos: RocketNews24
[ Read in Japanese ]