The Japanese Valentine’s treats that look like chocolates but taste like the ocean

Move over chocolates. Nothing says “I love you” more than a heart full of fish paste.

With a week left until Valentine’s Day, chocolate is flying off the shelves. Being the traditional gift for the holiday, it’s common to see large displays of a variety of fancy chocolates throughout supermarkets and shopping malls. Tradition aside, you should always select your gift based on what the other person likes. Maybe they’re not that keen on chocolate on its own but are fine with chocolate-based desserts. Maybe they can’t eat chocolate for whatever reason or they don’t like it at all. If you’re looking for a love-filled edible treat, then we may have found the perfect one: satsuma-age truffles.

Satsuma-age is a type of Japanese fish cake that is made by deep-frying seasoned fish paste. It’s usually a simple, brown treat that you can either eat as is, grill, or add to a soup.

While being a traditional food from Kagoshima, it’s not exactly synonymous with “romance”. However, as we were shopping around online, we stumbled across a satsuma-age set called Black Rose, which is only available around Valentine’s Day and costs 3,344 yen (US$21). Their elegant design could easily lead them to be mistaken for truffle chocolates. They’re simply adorable.

These bite-sized pieces are packaged in a fancy pastry-style box with a high-class wine-red color and interior dividers, each piece decorated so lovingly that it could rival the work of a pastry chef. It even comes in a special gift bag.

While we were won over just by appearance alone, since it is food, how does it taste? Crafted by Uoman, a company with a 120-year history of making satsuma-age, each of the four types is packed with quality ingredients.

There’s the Gold Heart, a simple heart-shaped satsuma-age, topped with a gold leaf. It’s smooth, with no added ingredients inside, has a bouncy texture, and is brimming with the delicious flavor of the fish.

The Western-inspired Basil and Cheddar features melted cheese and a basil sauce. This probably is the one with the most prominent flavor of the four. It’s a little saltier and could pair beautifully with white wine.

Upon opening the package, you’re immediately struck by the rich truffle aroma. It emanates from this Truffle and Onion satsuma-age, where the exceptional combination of the two ingredients creates an appetizer-like experience from a high-end restaurant.

Wrapping up the four varieties is the Pumpkin and Sweet Potato. Within the aromatic pumpkin satsuma-age, there are finely chopped pieces of sweet potato, which blend together to create a gentle harmony of sweet and lightly salted flavors. This was our favorite out of all of them.

With ordinary satsuma-age purchased from the supermarket, many times the flavors of the fish used blend together into a homogenous taste. It’s a different story with this selection, though. As we chewed, we could clearly make out the flavors of high-quality fish like sea bream and cod, each bite retained its natural flavor without any unpleasant fishiness. The taste was both well-balanced and elegant, which is to be expected from such a long-established specialist like Uoman.

While this product does require refrigeration and has a shelf life of six days, we feel it’s perfect as a gift. If you want the Black Rose set  delivered in time for Valentine’s Day and you’re purchasing it through Rakuten here, you need to order by February 6. Although you don’t have to limit yourself to Valentine’s Day, as the company offers a year-round selection with heart-shaped satsuma-age called Classic, which contains eight different flavors, such as chocolate nut and ajillo. It’s also slightly cheaper at 3,128 yen and can be ordered through Rakuten here.

For a unique Valentine’s gift, or for someone who doesn’t have that much of a sweet tooth, satsuma-age might be a quirky choice, but it’s certainly a delicious one.

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