We Need This Japanese Ice Cream Bar in the U.S.

Japan is home to one of the most celebrated food cultures in the world. But while sushi, soba and mochi have all been exported to the U.S. at this point, there are plenty of Japanese foods U.S. Americans will actually have to travel to Japan to try. One of them? The Choco Monaka Jumbo, a sort of ice cream candy bar that will haunt my dreams in the best possible way before it finally makes its way to the states.

I recently got a chance to visit Tokyo, and in between my frequent 7-Eleven onigiri runs, I visited the Morinaga factory. In the U.S., Morinaga is best known for its fruity, taffy-like candy, HI-CHEW, but in Japan, the company produces a wide range of products, including what is perhaps Japan’s most iconic ice cream product, the aforementioned Choco Monaka Jumbo. It’s an ice cream bar filled with vanilla ice cream accompanied by thin layers of chocolate, all encased in a crispy waffle that forms the structure of the bar.

Before taking my first bite of the Choco Monaka Jumbo, I was intimidated. It’s not small (the “jumbo” is an accurate moniker), and I was convinced that I would only be able to take a few bites before being overcome by a sugar-induced headache. Once I tried it, though, I realized how light it was. The ice cream inside wasn’t heavy or cloyingly sweet; it has an airiness and a subtlety to it that you don’t often find in frozen desserts from the U.S. The thin layers of chocolate, which surround the ice cream and form the center layer of the bar, add the perfect amount of richness to the otherwise simple vanilla ice cream. And anyone who gave themselves brain freezes as a child because they would eat their ice cream as quickly as possible to get to the waffle cone will be pleased to learn that the entire bar is encased in a crispy waffle that provides the ideal crunch in every single bite.