It’s official: A new Japanese treat has landed in Manhattan. Tonight AK brought home a bag of gorira no hana kuso. This literally translates to “nose shit of gorilla”. Less literally, this translates to “gorilla boogers”. This wouldn’t be noteworthy unless they were edible. (they are)

These have been available in Japan for a few years. They’re popular among children, especially when sold at zoos. I think their US equivalent would be the chocolate covered frozen banana: You eat them at Disneyland, but nowhere else. I’ve never seen gorilla boogers stateside, nor happened to try them, until tonight. They look like you would expect, but the taste is different…

The texture is that of overcooked jellybeans. If they were real gorilla boogers, I would’ve expected them to be more salty. They are a little sweet, and slightly pasty. The texture is appropriate since they’re basically dried and seasoned black beans. I ate about 4 of them, and I could probably eat a few more.

If you’ve read this far, you should be rewarded.