My White Lover

In Hokkaido, there is a very special souvenir called “Shiroi Koibito”, which means “White Lover”.
This is a form of sweet, that is sold mostly in the winter season, and only in Hokkaido.
When I went to Hokkaido, I had to buy some of these as a souvenir for my family, and everyone loved it.
It’s a certain form of sweet biscuit that hold a filling of white chocolate, which melts on your tongue.
The taste is sweet but not repulsively so. It’s very delicious with the soft crunch of the biscuit and the soft white chocolate that melts on your tongue.  It also comes in a milky chocolate version, which I have not tried, since the white version is the “original” and I could only afford one kind.

On a trip to Osaka I found that they ALSO have a version of the “Shiroi Koibito” and so I bought a package of it, because I thought it was kind of funny that they also had it, and I was curious as to whether it would be the same content as the one from Hokkaido.
Later that same month I went to Odaiba in Tokyo, and there I found another type of the “Shiroi Koibito” specially made for Odaiba tourism. Once again I ended up buying a pack of them, with a promise in mind, that I would go home and taste the three kinds, and do a blog about them.
A month went by and I didn’t open the packages, I was planning on bringing them all back to Denmark with me, when I go back in September, but I noticed that they would go bad before I would be able to go home.

Thus I decided now was the time to try them out. And so I decided to do that long awaited blog about these sweets.

First, let us have a look at the wrappings and boxes.

The boxes

From the left: Hokkaido , Odaiba Tokyo and Osaka.
The one from Hokkaido comes with a matching plastic bag, and is wrapped nicely in special shiroi koibito gift wrapping. The ones from Odaiba and Osaka are both just wrapped in plastic and there is no nice matching bags for either. Already the Hokkaido scores points on the wrapping.

All 3 unwrapped

All the designs are different, personally I think the original version from Hokkaido is the most interesting one of them all. Here is a picture of each of them, so you can compare.

The original from Hokkaido

Osaka version

Odaiba, Tokyo Version

When you open the boxes, there is also some differences.
The one from Hokkaido, has a luxurious feel to it. The lid opens with the removal of the small seal in the bottom, and then it opens like a book or a card.
Inside, the  chocolates are wrapped one by one in small packings, and has 3 pieces wrapped together by a see through film around the middle of the sweets.

Hokkaido version contents

Close up of the original version

The Osaka version and Odaiba version opens the same way, you remove the lid of the box, much like a puzzle box or a board game box would open.
Both have the sweets wrapped up one by one, but the placement is a little different in each type.
Take a look at the pictures below.

Osaka version contents

Close-up of the Osaka version contents

Odaiba, Tokyo version contents

Close up of the Odaiba, Tokyo version

Now to the good part, tasting it!
First compare each wrapping in size. Judging by the wrapping, the Osaka and Odaiba versions are slightly bigger than the Hokkaido version.  In my opinion, the one with the best looking wrapping, is the one from Odaiba, it looks like a miniature version of the box.

Comparing the 3 kinds

But, when you open them up, you will find that the biggest one is in fact the one from Hokkaido, and the smallest one is that from Odaiba. The Odaiba and Osaka ones look much alike, yet the Odaiba version has a little less filling than the Osaka version. The biscuit of Odaiba and Osaka are very much alike, and thicker than the one on the Hokkaido version. the Hokkaido version is not only bigger, but also have a lot more filling and a thinner biscuit.

Comparing the contents

When you bite into the Hokkaido one, it feels like it is melting on your tongue, and the taste of the white chocolate is very full and round. The biscuit  has a nice crunch too it, but it quickly melts like the chocolate when you start chewing. A very fine and delicious taste.
The Osaka and Odaiba ones are not as melty on your tongue. The biscuit is thicker and the filling lesser, and thus you get a different sensation.
The Odaiba one was rather disappointing, and nearly tasteless.
The Osaka one had a bit more taste to the chocolate, but the biscuit was a bit too much I think.

All in all, I would say the original Hokkaido version is the best out of these 3.
It has the better box wrapping, the box looks better, and it tastes a lot better than the other two.
Another plus is, you don’t have to gift wrap it before giving it to the receiver, since it has already been wrapped up.

The Osaka version comes second, because of the taste, though the box and wrapping is rather uninteresting.

The Odaiba version looses on the taste, but has a better looking wrapping than the Osaka version, though in my opinion, it is the contents that counts, and not what it looks like. That is why the Odaiba one is the looser.

Go for the original!

I am hoping to find more different kinds of the Shiroi Koibito.
In the near future I will be travelling to Okinawa, Nagoya, Kyoto, Nara and some of the small islands outside Tokyo bay. I will look for them, and if I find some, I will definitely do a blog about them as well!

I hope you enjoyed this, and I can only say, that I recommend you to try the Shiroi Koibito from Hokkaido if you get the chance! It is really worth the money!

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