Uji is a city in Kyōto with a reputation for producing green tea of superior quality. It was one of the first places to engage in tea cultivation after it was brought over from China. D and I visited Uji during our first trip to Japan in 2011, and were charmed by the restaurants and stores offering matcha flavoured foods along the approach to Byodoin Temple. On our second visit to Japan, we found this regional Glico Giant Pocky Uji Matcha in Ōsaka.
Put simply, it’s a giant Pocky that’s twice as long and twice as wide as ordinary Pocky. The biscuit stick is 250 mm long and 8 mm in diameter enrobed in 1 mm of matcha mousse. The biscuit is flavoured with unsweetened matcha, which was evident from the very slightly bitter flavour and the telltale green tinging the otherwise golden brown of the biscuit.
The creamy texture of matcha tea makes it perfect as a mousse for a Pocky. The mouse is smooth and definitely the star of the biscuit. The biscuit to mousse ratio is just right – the sweetness of the mousse balances well with the slight bitterness of the unsweetened biscuit. Happily, the mousse is thicker than you’d find on ordinary Pocky to counter the extra biscuit, so it’s not dry or cloying to the mouth.
The box of Glico Giant Pocky Uji Matcha contained 18 packs each with 1 piece. It was produced in Japan, and purchased in Ōsaka, Japan in 2014.