With a week left until Valentine’s Day, chocolate is flying off the shelves. Being the traditional gift for the holiday, it’s common to see large displays of a variety of fancy chocolates throughout supermarkets and shopping malls. Tradition aside, you should always select your gift based on what the other person likes. Maybe they’re not that keen on chocolate on its own but are fine with chocolate-based desserts. Maybe they can’t eat chocolate for whatever reason or they don’t like it at all. If you’re looking for a love-filled edible treat, then we may have found the perfect one: .

Satsuma-age is a that is made by . It’s usually a simple, brown treat that you can either eat as is, grill, or add to a soup.

While being a , it’s not exactly synonymous with “romance”. However, as we were shopping around online, we stumbled across a satsuma-age set called , which is and costs 3,344 yen (US$21). . They’re simply adorable.

These bite-sized pieces are packaged in a fancy pastry-style box with a high-class wine-red color and interior dividers, each piece decorated so lovingly that it . It even comes in a special gift bag.

While we were won over just by appearance alone, since it is food, how does it taste? Crafted by , a company with a 120-year history of making satsuma-age, each of the is packed with quality ingredients.

There’s the , a simple heart-shaped satsuma-age, topped with a gold leaf. It’s smooth, with no added ingredients inside, has a bouncy texture, and is brimming with the delicious flavor of the fish.

The Western-inspired features melted cheese and a basil sauce. This probably is the one with the most prominent flavor of the four. It’s a little saltier and could pair beautifully with white wine.

Upon opening the package, you’re immediately struck by the rich truffle aroma. It emanates from this satsuma-age, where the exceptional combination of the two ingredients creates an appetizer-like experience from a high-end restaurant.

Wrapping up the four varieties is the . Within the aromatic pumpkin satsuma-age, there are finely chopped pieces of sweet potato, which blend together to create a gentle harmony of sweet and lightly salted flavors. This was our favorite out of all of them.

With ordinary satsuma-age purchased from the supermarket, many times the flavors of the fish used blend together into a homogenous taste. It’s a different story with this selection, though. As we chewed, we could clearly make out the flavors of high-quality fish like sea bream and cod, each bite retained its natural flavor without any unpleasant fishiness. , which is to be expected from such a long-established specialist like Uoman.

While this product does and has a , we feel it’s perfect as a gift. If you want the Black Rose set  delivered in time for Valentine’s Day and you’re purchasing it through Rakuten , you need to order by February 6. , which contains eight different flavors, such as chocolate nut and ajillo. It’s also slightly cheaper at 3,128 yen and can be ordered through Rakuten .

For a unique Valentine’s gift, or for someone who doesn’t have that much of a sweet tooth, satsuma-age might be a quirky choice, but it’s certainly a delicious one.

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