Best-selling custard pudding in vegan version

Custard pudding (called "purin" in Japanese) is one of the most popular western-style sweets in Japan, especially among children. Though it is a simple dessert basically made from eggs, milk, and sugar, any western-style confectionery store has one, and convenience stores and supermarkets provide several options made by different companies. The most well-known product may be Pucchin Purin (プッチンプリン) made by a food company Glico. It is a long-selling product released in 1972. In 2013, it was recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling pudding in the world.

I can’t remember when I last ate the original Pucchin Purin. Though vegan cookies and cakes are available in some stores, I could hardly imagine the existence of vegan custard pudding. Last month, however, Glico released Pucchin Purin in vegan version that looked like the original pudding. I happened to see it on a website and got curious. I couldn’t find it in convenience stores and small supermarkets but finally got one in a supermarket chain MaxValu.

When removing the cover, I noticed that the pudding smelled like ordinary custard pudding. The smooth pale yellow surface also reminded me of the original version.

The bottom looked like this. As with the oridinal Pucchin Purin, there was a little protrusion on the surface.

When I pushed the protrusion and made a hole, the pudding sank down. Then I realized why Pucchin Purin has been loved by many children.

The vegan Pucchin Purin really looked like ordinary custard pudding.

The ingredients were soy milk, sugar, glucose syrup, vegetable fats and oils, roasted sugar, almond paste, salt, agar/starch adhesive, flavoring, emulsifier, pH control agent, carotene coloring, and caramel coloring. According to the description on the cover, the sugar is cane sugar. Not only the appearance but also the texture was also very much like the original version. It was as jiggly and smooth as the original version, but the taste was lighter. So, I thought it may be good for diet.
Though the soy milk was used as a major ingredient, I couldn’t specifically recognize the taste of soybeans. I was just impressed by the jiggly texture common to both the original and vegan Pucchin Purin and enjoyed it. Glico did a good job!

This Pucchin Purin may be a great option for vegans and people who are allergic to dairy products and eggs as it is available in an ordinary supermarket chain. MaxValu is a big supermarket with a relatively large selection of products. I hope it will be soon sold in other supermarkets as well.