Today’s snack looks like a wagashi, but is in fact more of a yogashi by virtue of the chocolate filling. At first glance, this treat looks exactly like taiyaki; a wagashi from the early 1900’s comprised of a pancake or waffle batter grilled in a fish-shaped mold and filled with anko.
The chocolate peeking between the seam of my quasi-taiyaki kinda resembles anko. I’d be happy with either anko or chocolate in taiyaki; I adore both as a dessert filling.
This Air in Choco Taiyaki is made by Meito Sangyo Co., Ltd. and was brought back from Japan by a friend. The Meito Company has a very elegant website, but it’s all in Japanese. Meito also has a chemical division and interestingly, the website for their chemical division is in both Japanese and English. I guess people internationally are more likely to purchase chemicals than tasty candy. If everyone bought candy instead of chemicals though, wouldn’t the world be a better place?
I usually take a moment to sniff whatever snack I’m about to eat; it’s animal instinct I think. Air in Choco Taiyaki smells a lot like the cheap, cream-filled wafer cookies from my childhood. But oh how I loved those cheap vanilla, chocolate and strawberry wafer cookies! After a brief jog down memory lane I notice how very detailed the taiyaki is. Taiyaki is literally translated as roasted sea bream, sea bream being the fish the treat is shaped into. The scales and fins are highly defined.
Looking at the wafer sea bream on the package, flayed to reveal the whipped chocolate within, I’m slightly queasy. I’ve never liked the way some advertising features cross sections of their products; it always reminds me of high school anatomy for whatever reason. It’s not bad packaging per se, and might even be highly effective in promoting Air in Choco Taiyaki. Who am I to say that Meito’s angle is wrong?
Enough lallygagging, it’s snack time! At first bite, I’m surprised at the air whipped chocolate. I’ve never had chocolate prepared this way. The chocolate is honeycombed with air pockets, making it very light and fluffy. It disintegrates on the tongue. I detect a hint of hazelnut in the chocolate, like Nutella. The chocolate is rich without being heavy and is very flavorful, yet not too sweet. The fluffiness of the chocolate seems to actually boost the chocolate flavor and distribute it evenly in the mouth. The wafer cookie is very crisp and light and doesn’t detract or compete with the chocolate, nothing like the cheap wafer cookies of yore! It’s all very, very good. It’s all I can do to not wolf the entire thing without first describing it. Very hard. The flavor, however, should be savored.
However, after taking the necessary pictures and writing the correct descriptions, all nonsense of savoring this snack is out the window and the taiyaki disappears in under 15 seconds.
Air in Choco Taiyaki is damn good and has an excellent balance of flavor and texture and great visual appeal. This is one of the best snacks I’ve had that’s come outta Japan. If you can get your hands on this snack, buy it and don’t think twice about it, and pick one up for me!
Texture: 
Flavor: Appearance: Packaging:
Giving Air in Choco Taiyaki an overall:
My wife picked up a couple snacks like these before, but they weren’t as large as that fish appears to be. There’s another one you might be interested in, which is like a reverse waffle filled with ice cream and dipped in chocolate. So tasty.
