#pixelposting

[image description: a green and blue box for a candy that is labeled “Popin’Cookin’“ in big letters, followed by subtitles in japanese and english that say “tanoshii Hamburger”. the box shows two hamburger candies, a glass cup of soda, and a pile of french fry candies covered in candy ketchup. two cute cartoon ducks are featured on the box.]

we’ve often looked at these in videos and on stores online and wondered what they were like, and eventually finally found one at our local supermarket. we made it and it was lots of fun.

we’ve never done anything like this before, and the amount of steps required was surprising. you take several packets of powders and shape them in little plastic containers that it comes with. here’s an example from their website. (the “cup” referred to here is a very small plastic cup, much smaller than any of the other pieces. it does not refer to the common unit of measurement.)

[image description: six pictures are shown, the first shows an irregularly shaped disposable plastic piece with a ridged bottom, filled with a yellow substance that is being added by a pink plastic spoon. a red text bubble next to the image reads “1cup full”, directing how much water to add. the second image shows a cartoon hand flattening the yellow substance, and the third shows it being cut into slices with a greenish-blue plastic knife. the bottom three images are similar, with a more square shaped plastic piece filled with a ball of brown substance, also being added by the pink spoon. this one says “4cup full” in a red text bubble. the next image shows the now rounded ball being split into two balls, and the third shows the cartoon hand pressing them flat into two round plastic pieces, to shape hamburger buns.]

there were six different packets, each a different color, which were all used in various ways to create buns, patties, french fries, cheese, ketchup, and soda candies. i had to cut a sheet of plastic into several pieces to make the individual cups needed. putting it together was very fun. it reminded me of the craft projects chloe and jasper used to do at the library, and the cards we would make for birthdays. it was very “hands on” and nice. each piece of the meal needed to cure for a while, with the patty requiring ten minutes to set.

most pieces became rigid dry things, that were then cut up, but a great big surprise came in the hamburger patty. when i finally opened it up it turned out to be gelatin! no wonder it took so long to cure. i was so delighted to see it be so different that truthfully, much of my enjoyment came just from the patty itself.

another time i was delighted like this was when making the soda. the soda is prepared differently, being a separate plastic cup that you simply fill with water and add the pouch. i was so excited to pour it in and see that it was actually carbonated. i think it was made similarly to “pop rocks” candies, which allowed it to be very similar in texture and sound to proper cola. it also tasted just like it! we have not had any cola for a very long time, because we’re so sensitive to caffeine, and this was such a nice treat.

putting it together took a while, i think around 30 minutes. it would probably be a lot faster if you paid closer attention, and were a bit faster to work than i was.

each piece smelled amazing as it was being prepared, also. they all came in a different flavor. the fries were pineapple flavored, the ketchup was strawberry, the patty chocolate, the cheese banana, and the bun orange.

the actual flavor of the candy was a bit of a different story. the textures for the candies were... odd. and you will notice that these are all vastly different flavors, especially with one of them being chocolate, a more savory flavor. they were also all very different textures. putting them all together into one burger was... very not good, truthfully. no part of this tasted particularly good (except for the soda, and the ketchup, which were delicious) and the experience of eating it was altogether somewhat unpleasant. especially with the dry bun, and the wet gelatin patty making a very discordant sensory experience.

another thing that surprised me about the actual experience of eating it was how much candy it resulted in. as i said, many of these became pretty firm candies, which also made them somewhat dense. we ate each burger in about three bites, and each one seemed to fill our mouth and require a bit of chewing like real food. it wasn’t filling by any rate, but it was definitely more substantial than an average candy.

this candy toy however also produced quite a lot of waste packaging. with each powder being stored separately, and the need for the rigid plastic molds, it created a large handful of trash (which neatly fit into the cardboard box provided with it, at least.) the one thing that was not trash was the disposable utensils

[image description: a pink spoon and a green knife on a white background. they are both disposable plastic, with the spoon on the left, and the knife on the right. the knife has a somewhat unique shape, with the blade taking up two thirds of its length, and having a smaller handle.]

these utensils are very nice to me, and are something i will cherish for a long time. their colors are delightful, and they’re such a nice size. the spoon is three inches and one quarter (8.5mm) and the knife is four inches and one quarter (approximately 11mm)

i like the knife’s shape, as well. due to its small size and i suppose, the same need for a blade length, it ends up looking like one of the swords in the games my friends play, like guild wars 2.

altogether this was incredibly fun and rewarding. the act of eating it was not very pleasant, but the smell, look, and fun task of making it was nice. due to the lack of tastiness, and the amount of waste it produces, i think this will only be a once in a while kind of treat, but it was very nice nonetheless.

[image description: a paper plate with the completed product on it. a small pile of french fry candies covered in candy ketchup sits in the foreground, behind it are two hamburger candies, one with two patties and one with one patty. both have a slice of cheese candy, and a bit of ketchup candy. to the left is a miniature cup filled with cola, and to the right is the aforementioned plastic knife.]

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[image description: a blue box for a candy that is labeled “Popin’Cookin’“ in big letters, followed by subtitles in japanese and english that say “tanoshii Sushi”. the box shows a tray of 5 pieces of candy sushi, two salmon slice sushis, two omelette slice sushis, and one salmon roe sushi piled high with roe.]

after the last of these candy kits we were really excited to see another type at the grocery store, and got it again. previously i got the hamburger one, and thought it was a lot of fun, so i was eager to give this one a try

the instructions for creating this one were more extensive than the last, and it had two "jelly" pieces (the "omelette" and "salmon"), but there were two real highlights. where the tanoshii hamburger had a surprise cup of cola, this one surprised with its signature gimmick, the salmon roe

[image description: a screenshot from the popincookin website showing instructions for the salmon roe. red text as a header reads "5. Make salmon roe!" followed by the instructions. "Add water up to lines on sides in sections A an B. Add powder from the green packet to section A. Add powder from the orange packet to section B. Mix well. Use dropper to slowly add mixture B to mixture A." in bold text after it says "Be careful not to mix liquids together." to the right is a graphic showing this process, suggesting you drop the orange liquid into the other form a height of 1 inch.]

this is a process of tapioca starch and sodium alginate to produce at home amateur boba to put on top of the sushi. this process was a lot of fun, as this is a process we have seen a lot in tv shows, and have always wanted to try. this 'salmon roe' was also the tastiest and best part of the entire treat.

the other big (subjective) surprise came in the form of the candy nori sheet for the roe sushi. all of these have been a process of combining ingredients to get a result, but the nori sheet was just a single piece of taffy, with the instructions to squish it in your hands like play-doh to get it to the right shape. this process was not fun. it was sticky and not something that we enjoy, but it was a fun surprise nonetheless.

as before, the smell was amazing, but the flavor was fairly mixed. i do not enjoy the "jelly" cured candies that you make with these kracie sets, and this set heavily featured them. however i really enjoyed eating the "rice". it should have just been rice and roe

the other important thing to note is that the theming of this set is just very gross to me. turning something savory into something sweet is always a bit gross, but when it is raw fish it is a little bit hard to stomach. i will never be getting this again, but i did really enjoy getting to experience it.

the final thing to note is that in general this set felt a lot less polished than the hamburger. the hamburger produced exactly 2 relatively even burgers which formed very nicely, however this sushi set did not have nearly enough rice for the five sushis i was expected to make, and i finished with 4-5 times more roe than i needed (this was fine though, as again the roe was very tasty and the best part of the treat). the jellies were also not up to the task of being sushi, and i couldn't even get them to stay up or not fall apart long enough to take a picture

[image description: a somewhat unappetizing looking spread of candy recreations of sushi. the number and type are as described on the box, with the addition of a large pile of candy roe. the five haphazard candies are on a white ceramic plate with a pink spoon in the background]

all-in-all i would not recommend this set, but i had fun using it. importantly, it also came with a new disposable utensil to go with the spoon and knife from the hamburger!