Bota-Nice Japanese Style Peanuts (3 oz. bag)

Item Purchased: Bota-Nice Japanese Style Peanuts (3 oz. bag)
Location Purchased: 7-Eleven / 1350 S. Halsted / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.19 + tax

Review: Those of you who haven't tried Japanese style peanuts probably haven't been to Mexico. It's an irony that these smaller peanuts coated, with a crunchy shell that has subtle sweet and salty flavors roasted into it, are often found in Mexican grocery stores. Anyone know the history behind this? Something tells me that it has very little to do with Japanese culture and very much to do with Mexican culture (and very little to do with the majority of Midwestern American culture). I haven't seen these peanuts in many larger grocery stores in Chicago. I attribute 7-Eleven's stock of Japanese Style Peanuts to this location's proximity to the traditionally Mexican Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen

The crunchy shell surrounding the nuts has a subtle soy sauce flavor that is reminiscent of the initial flavor that a wasabi pea has before the nasal clutching spice of the wasabi kicks in. Though not quite nasal clutching, each bag of Bota-Nice Japanese Style Peanuts does come with a "free" pouch of hot sauce with which to dip your nuts in. I've been informed that some Japanese Style Peanut connoisseurs actually pour the hot sauce into the plastic pouch that the nuts come in and mix everything together. That just seems too messy to me. I prefer to fold a sheet of paper from the printer at my desk into a rectangular dip bowl of sorts and pour the hot sauce into the middle so I can individually dip each peanut. Either way, the opposing flavors of sweet, salty and nutty come together to form a flavor that can only be described as desirable and somewhat addicting.

Regardless of what part of the globe this snack food comes from, I'm glad to find something so unique and flavorful to save me from the drudgery of my staid and stale workday lunches at 7-Eleven.

Update (09/21/06): Today I poured the hotsauce into the bag of Bota-Nice Peanuts and mixed it all up before eating. A bit messy, but actually a better snacking experience!

Rating: 3.75 / 5