Yan Yan (snack)
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Yan Yan (ヤンヤンつけボー, Yan Yan Tsukebō) is a Japanese snack food made by Meiji Seika. It comes in a package with two compartments. One side has biscuit sticks (which can be sometimes called cracker sticks), the other side has chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, or yogurt flavored frosting used for dipping. The sticks themselves may also be flavored. Some Yan Yan products are sold in rectangular containers with 9 sticks and dip. There is also a new version which includes two flavored dips.
In 1982, British company KP Snacks began licensing Yan Yan for UK markets releasing it under the name "Choc Dips".[1]
The sticks
The sticks were once plain, but recently Meiji has placed pictures of various animals on them with quotes relating to that animal. The quotes are in English, but often appear unorthodox to native English speakers. Examples of these animal quotes include:
- Rabbit: Eat More Carrots
- Zebra: Herbivore
- Octopus: Eight Arms / Lucky Number: 8
- Starfish: Star in the Sea / Star+Fish / Sea Star
- Cat: Has Nine Lives / Say Meow
- Rhinoceros: Think Big / Nose Horn
- Bat: Only In The Night
- Squirrel: Your Best Friend
- Mouse: Eats Cheese / Do Not Be Timid
- Horse: Gallop Away
- Squid: Black Ink
- Beetle: Thick Shiny Shell / Lucky Color: Brown
- Seal: Loves To Sun Tan
- Sheep: Wool Sweaters
- Stag Beetle: Love It / Powerful Jaw
- Chicken: Kokekokko
- Duck: Go For A Swim / Quack, Quack
- Whale: Biggesy Mammal (Actually says 'Biggesy', although this typo has been corrected in more recent products)
- Giraffe: Tallest Mammal
- Grown Baby: Cradle Them All
- Butterfly: Flower to Flower
- Lion: Roar
- Fox: Beware Of Lies
- Snail: Snail Mail?
- Chick: Eager to Hatch / Lucky Color: Yellow
- Goat: You Are Lucky Today
- Mole: In A Hole
- Elephant: Jumbo / Longest Trunk
- Panda: Go for More
- Frog: Amphibian / Ribbit
- Owl: Active At Night / Night Predator
- Balloon: Goes Pop
- Kettle: Goes Ssss
- Cow: Moooooo
Some of the animal-related quotes relate not to facts about the animals, but instead to the noise the animal makes, which is printed in a Japanese-influenced English dialect. For example:
- Chicken: Kokekokko
- Cow: Muuuuu
There are also two "golden" non-animal quotes: Golden Egg and Golden Log.
Flavors
Yan-yan comes in a variety of flavors. This includes vanilla sticks with chocolate, strawberry, mango, vanilla cream, and the newest, hazelnut, or chocolate sticks with vanilla cream.
Relation to other snacks
Pocky is a similar Japanese snack which includes thinner sticks pre-dipped in cream. The cream comes in a much wider variety of flavors such as green tea cream or honey-flavored cream. Yan Yans are dipped by the consumer themselves, and come in a more limited assortment of flavors. They both also have 160 calories per serving (30g). Meiji also produces another very popular snack called "Hello Panda". It is a panda-shaped biscuit with either chocolate, strawberry or vanilla flavored fillings. Each biscuit has a cartoon print on it depicting pandas playing various sports. Yan Yan is also similar to the American snack Dunk-a-roos.