Botan Rice Candy

I was first introduced to Botan Rice Candy when I lived in Hawaii. There is a great deal of Asian influence in the Hawaiian Islands. You will find Asian products more readily available at the corner store, as opposed to visiting a specialty store. These sweet little treats are available at Asian Food Markets, or if you are lucky, you may find it at your local Chinese Restaurant.

Botan Rice Candy might be considered the Cracker Jack’s of Asia. They come with a small prize inside. The small box normally runs about one dollar, and contains six small candies. The candies come in a plastic outer wrapper, and are wrapped again with a plastic-like inner wrapper which is edible. The inner wrapper melts in your mouth when you pop the candy in. The candy itself is a chewy sweet slightly citrus candy that melts as you chew it. The texture is different from caramel or taffy, somewhat softer and dissolving a bit quicker. The flavor is also a lot less intense than chews that we in America are more accustomed to. I would point to Starburst, Now and Laters or Mambo Chews which all have strong flavorings. The light pleasant flavoring in the Botan Rice Candy is a nice change from the stronger flavorings I’m used to.

I’ve only seen one type of packaging for Botan Rice Candy. This packaging is very distinct. The small box is red and green with a kitten and a flower on the front and a fat kid on the back (I don‘t know how else to describe it). The box contains ¾ ounce of candy. If you consider the price per pound, the total would be over twenty dollars a pound. I guess that’s why you only get six pieces in a box. Although the price is high for what you get, the ingredients are not very exotic. This candy contains Glucose syrup (cornstarch, water), sugar, sweet rice, water, lemon flavor, orange flavor, FD&C Red No. 40. Yes, that is sweet rice in the ingredients…hence the name rice candy. Now I know you might be thinking that rice is a disgusting ingredient to include in candy, but I can not even tell that there is rice in this candy. The flavor is mostly sweetness, with a hint of the citrus flavors.

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