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.

Although I was sure I wouldn’t be able to finish the dessert, I was wrong; it was gone in under five minutes, and I probably could’ve comfortably eaten another. I’m clearly not the only one—the ice cream bar is massively popular in Japan. “Choco Monaka Jumbo was launched by Morinaga in 1972 and now is the top brand across the ice cream market in Japan,” said Teruhiro Kawabe, Chief Representative for the USA & President, CEO of Morinaga America, Inc.

The genius behind this product is largely in how it’s constructed. While a typical waffle cone would get soggy after spending just a few minutes in contact with even slightly melted ice cream, that’s not a problem with the Choco Monaka Jumbo. “Through a special technique, we layer chocolate blocks between Monaka [crispy waffle] and cream to ensure moisture does not get into the Monaka to maintain the crisp,” Kawabe told me. The result is an ice cream bar that doesn’t require frantic frozen dairy consumption just to get to the best part of the treat: the crunchy waffle.

There’s so much that Japan gets right when it comes to food. Before visiting the country, I was fully expecting to be blown away by the sushi, the noodles, even the convenience store snacks, none of which disappointed. What I didn’t realize was that one of the best bites of the trip would be an ice cream bar. Now, trips to the frozen section of the grocery store back home in the States will be a little bleaker, a little less exciting, knowing that the best novelty ice cream product I’ve ever eaten is on the other side of the world. I can only hope it reaches North American shores soon. If not? I guess it’s worth the 14-hour flight back.

Samantha Maxwell is a food writer and editor based in Boston. Follow her on Twitter at @samseating.