Lotte Koume: Japan’s Most Famous Ume Plum Candy
Japan has a wide range of foods made with Ume (梅) plums, including Umeboshi, and the fruit can be the main ingredient in Japanese confections/sweets.
In my country, you can see various Ume candies sold at supermarkets and convenience stores, among which, if someone asks me what is most famous, I will answer it is Lotte Koume Candy.
Lotte Koume Candy
The Koume Candy is an Ume plum-flavored hard candy released by Lotte in 1974. It’s now become one of Japan’s most loved Ume treats.
Features
The product consists of 2 different types (flavors) of Ume candy; most are small with a three-layer structure, and only two are large-sized.
Although the small Koume candy is, as a whole, sweet, it is coated with salty-sour Ume powder and even has a filling of Umeboshi paste.
The large one is sweeter than the small one, but it also has a filling of tard Umeboshi paste.
Both use plum juice extracted from the top-grade Ume species Nanko-Bai (南高梅), and they are well-balanced, and their taste is fantastic!
Ingredients/Nutrition Facts
Lastly, based on the information on the official site, let’s see the specific ingredients and nutrition facts of the two types of Koume Candy.
| Small Koume | Large Koume |
|---|---|
| Starch syrup, Sugar, Ume paste, Ume powder, Concentrated Ume plum juice, Ume extract, Acidifier, Anthocyanin pigment, Polysaccharide thickener, Flavoring | Starch syrup, Sugar, Ume paste (Starch syrup, Sugar, Ume flesh, Ume extract), Concentrated Ume plum juice, Ume extract, Acidifier, Anthocyanin pigment, Thickener (Pectin), Flavoring |
Nutritional Values
| Small Koume (2.6 g) | Large Koume (9.8 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 10 kcal | 38 kcal |
| Protein | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 2.5 g | 9.4 g |
| Salt equivalents | 0.02 g | 0.03 g |
