Asia

Where the countries part company

This category gathers up what comes apart clearly the moment you taste it. Korea stands for heat, fermentation and chewy rice cakes, with Buldak Ramyeon and Tteokbokki as the flagships. Japan goes the opposite way: quiet sweetness, plenty of texture, KitKat flavors that never reach shelves here. Thailand supplies the sweet-sour-hot combination familiar from the MAMA and YUMYUM noodles in the Ba Mee box. Then come the outliers, like the spicy Big Latiao from China or Yaahoo, the durian cookie from the Philippines that reliably splits a room.

If you would rather not commit yet

That is exactly what the cross-country boxes are for. The Asian Sweets Box mixes right across the region, Noodle Street does the same with instant noodles and also comes in a vegan version. It is the sensible way in while you still do not know which country suits you, and the calmer choice as a gift when you do not know the tastes of the person you are giving it to. Anyone who has already made up their mind is better off on the country page itself, where there is depth instead of breadth. Every format at a glance sits under Boxes.

Drinks and things to make yourself

The second reason to browse here rather than on a country page is the products that belong to no single country. Bubble tea comes from Taiwan, for instance, but is drunk everywhere by now; the DIY boxes with tapioca pearls or popping boba let you mix it at home. And if you would rather cook than snack, the cooking boxes are the way in that goes beyond plain nibbling.