There’s something fascinating and exciting about trying unique flavors from different cultures. You never quite know if you’re going to love them like the locals do or find them absolutely repulsive. It’s a gamble that adventurous eaters often live for and the unadventurous try best to avoid. Personally, I’ll try anything once. Even if, it is still crawling across the table or leaves me with agonizing depression and anxiety for nearly a year (Ah... life is a hard lesson to be learned!) Luckily, there’s nothing creepy-crawly today or crisis inducing for that matter! Only traditionally flavored dessert almonds that your grandmother would love.
Tom’s Farm Injeolmi Almond more than likely contains a word and a flavor that you’ve never heard of, but will remember forever if you try it. For the unacquainted, Injeolmi is a type of sweet glutinous rice cake from Korea that is typically coated in a powdered bean dusting. Powdered beans with your dessert might not seem appetizing to you, but it’s a fairly common addition to snacks here in Korea. Most notably, you will see the powder used in either rice cakes or bingsu. It’s such a delicious flavor that is unlike most western desserts. Koreans love it and I completely understand why. If anything comes out of this review, I hope you venture out and give these almonds or rice cakes the benefit of a taste. You likely find that powdered beans are your new favorite dessert topping!
Packaging:
I guess I should get this off my chest first today. Having just done dishes this morning, I dropped the almonds into an incompletely dried, moist cup. The almonds look a little funky in the pictures, so sorry about that! However, I got cheated out of a gram of almonds for at least the third time. This time, the almonds came in at 24 grams in a wet cup! Shame, shame, on you Tom!
The package I went with today was yet again a mini one. This package was supposed to be filled with 25 grams, but I’m, of course, down another gram in treats.
The almonds today are looking exceptionally cute in their traditional Korean clothing. Although some of them decided to go commando and just wear powdered Injeolmi hats, which is perfectly acceptable for the intense labor needed to make traditional rice cakes. The two in the center look to be hard at work making those rice cakes, but watch out for the one on the right, because he’s getting a little wild with his swings and is about to clobber his friend into a different kind of powder. This art really speaks well to the flavor of these almonds and I love that it incorporated some of the traditional aspects of Korean culture that aren’t often shown outside of the country itself.
Flavor:
Injeolmi Almond likely has a bean flavor that you weren’t expecting. Let’s face it, beans by themselves are often boring and nearly flavorless. This sweetened bean powder is mind-blowingly tasty. Honestly, I could probably eat an entire dumpster full of these almonds… They are THAT good! The almonds are lightly dusted with Injeolmi coating, so now hard candied exterior here. The flavor is, well, for a lack of a better word, traditonal. It’s sweet, powdery, light, and nutty. It tastes like an Asian snack with its unique flavor profile. After tossing one of these treats in your mouth, you will first hit the soft, powdery texture, that will be followed up by the almond center. A very light almond flavor graces the final taste adding a bit more nuttiness to the mix. Just talking about these is making my mouth water in excitement. Now, where’s my bingsu!?
Aroma:
These almonds have a distinct sweet and powdery smell to them. They really smell like misutgaru (Typically spelled, misugaru in English), which is a sweetened multi-grain powder that you mix with water or milk and drink in Korea. You can’t really smell the bean powder exactly, but it does have some bean-like notes. The aroma is soft like a glutinous rice cake should be.
Verdict:
Tom’s Farm Injeolmi Almond has a unique Korean dessert flavor that everyone should be able to appreciate and cherish. These almonds are incredibly delicious, while still maintaining the more traditional qualities of the bean powder. I don’t know why, but I feel like the flavor profile makes for a good winter snack. These just taste like the holidays. If there’s one Korean flavor to try, I suggest you grab a package of these ASAP. You’re surely to become a bean-lover over night!
What do you think about powdered beans in your dessert? Have you ever tried Injeolmi Rice Cakes or bingsu topped with it? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re interested in hearing more about Korean snack nuts or instant ramen, check out my on-going series, Noodle Story: An Exploration of Korean Instant Noodles and my other series, I Think I’m Going Nuts: An Eyeful of South Korea’s Little Snack Nuts, here on Medium.
