Costco expert Kosuko's carefully selected 3 "summer must-buy items" you'll want to stock up on

Hello! I'm Kosuko, a housewife who loves the members-only warehouse store Costco.

It's been hot every day.

This time, we will introduce three "summer must-buy items" that are perfect for those hot days and can be purchased at Costco.

I-MEI Brown Sugar Tapioca Milk Ice Bar (4 bars x 3 boxes)

The I-MEI Brown Sugar Tapioca Milk Ice Bar (4 bars x 3 boxes) (1,680 yen) is a bar ice cream imported directly from Taiwan and is only sold at Costco during the summer. It is a product that turns the well-known "brown sugar tapioca milk" in Taiwan into ice cream!

Image: Kosuko

Each bar contains 75g of individually wrapped ice cream.

Image: Kosuko

It has a marbled appearance, like vanilla ice cream mixed with coffee extract, and at first glance it looks like any other ice cream, but if you look closely, you'll see that it's filled with lots of black, round pearls about 1cm in diameter. This is actually the famous "black tapioca"!

Image: Kosuko

Freezing tapioca seems like something that has never been done before. I can't imagine what the texture would be like, but when I actually tried it, I was surprised! It was super delicious!

First of all, I was surprised that even though the tapioca was frozen, it was still tapioca! The moment it entered my mouth, the hardness caused by freezing almost disappeared and it returned to its soft and chewy texture. The taste and texture were almost the same as when I drank tapioca milk tea.

Brown sugar ice cream is milky but refreshing. The aroma of brown sugar is very sweet, but when you actually try it, it's not too heavy and you can eat it down in no time.

And there's more tapioca than it looks! The chewy texture goes well with the cool ice cream, making it a lot of fun!

We were completely captivated by this ice cream with a new texture that is hard to find in Japan, and it has become one of the essential summer items in our home.

Honolulu Cookie Lemon Cookie (454g)

Honolulu Cookie Company is a popular Hawaiian souvenir, known for its pineapple-shaped buttery shortbread (butter cookies). Due to their deliciousness, the company has many fans in Japan.

Generally, people think of it as a rare sweet that can only be bought in Hawaii, but at Costco, it is actually sold in the sweet section, and you can even get it at a better price than in Hawaii (according to Costco)!

Costco's Honolulu Cookies come in "Mini Bites" bags, which are a huge amount of cookies in one bag. The classic "Chocolate Chip Cookie" is popular, but this year they introduced a new flavor called "Lemon," the "Honolulu Cookie Lemon Cookie" (1,598 yen), which is very refreshing and perfect for the hot summer months!

Image: Kosuko

The cookies are a faint lemon color and have a refreshing scent that combines the aroma of soft butter with the tartness of lemon.

Image: Kosuko

It has a crunchy texture and just the right amount of melting in your mouth, the delicious taste of butter and the sweetness of the dough, a subtle saltiness, and the added lemon flavor that adds an extra something. It's a taste that reminds me of the nostalgic "lemon cake" of the past.

I was impressed with the way the refreshing lemon flavor was added, not interfering with the rich butter flavor that is Honolulu Cookies' greatest feature, yet mellowing out the richness of the butter.

The only disappointment is that the cookies are packed into one bag so the pineapple shape is lost.

Image: Kosuko

There's so much in it, so I guess it can't be helped.

Personally, I think that including that, it's a Costco-like product, where you can purchase high-quality items in large quantities at reasonable prices.

Blue Elephant Thai Curry 3-piece Set (Yellow, Red, Green Curry)

During the hot season, for some reason, one thing that makes you crave curry is the Blue Elephant Thai Curry 3-Kind Set (Yellow, Red, Green Curry) (1,678 yen).

Blue Elephant is a high-end restaurant in Thailand, and has been selected by Michelin as one of the best restaurants in Asia. Thanks to this kit from the restaurant, you can make an authentic Thai curry in just 15 minutes using one frying pan.

Image: Kosuko

There are three types of curry: green curry, yellow curry, and red curry, each in one bag (2 servings each). One box can make six servings of curry.

Image: Kosuko

Inside the box were the curry pastes, coconut cream powder, spices, fish sauce, and dried spices needed for each of the three curries. I really appreciated the portions that were all in one use!

Image: Kosuko

I've always wanted to make real curry, but choosing the right spices is already difficult, and what to do with the large amount of spices left over after cooking can be a big hurdle. This set contains only the necessary amounts of carefully selected spices, so I'm happy that I can try it out without any worries.

You will need to prepare your own ingredients. You can use whatever you like, but each curry has a recommended ingredient list, so I think it's best to gather those ingredients first.

To make it, just add the ingredients to the frying pan in the order listed, stir fry, and simmer. It's very easy, even for beginners.

Although the preparation is simple, the quality of each curry is high, and the taste is just like what you'd get at a restaurant, so the first bite was a big surprise!

Image: Kosuko

The freshness of spices when fried in oil really is something special that you just can't get with pre-made foods.

Image: Kosuko

The spiciness increases in the order of yellow curry → red curry → green curry, and the flavor also changes slightly depending on the ingredients added.

I'm not a big fan of spicy food, so I liked the yellow curry the best. The mellow richness of the coconut milk really came through, and the shrimp that was added to it went perfectly with it!

Image: Kosuko

It has a long expiration date, and the packaging itself is small so it doesn't take up much storage space. I think it's one of the more affordable Costco products.

"Costco Summer Must-Buy Items" are perfect for the coming season. They were also introduced in the mini-program "ARNE" that aired on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Please take a look at the program video. (Text/Kosuko)

◆ ARNE TV #180 "Costco's must-buy items for hot days!"

<Facility information(click on facility name ↓)>
■ Costco Hisayama Warehouse Store
Address: 1152-1 Takayanagi, Yamada, Hisayama-machi, Kasuya-gun, Fukuoka Prefecture [Inside the West Zone of Torius Hisayama]

■ Costco Kitakyushu Warehouse Store
Address: 1-2-12 Honjo Gakkendai, Yahata-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka

*This article is current as of the time of publication. Prices are subject to change. Also, stock is limited. For the latest information, please check Costco's website (https://www.costco.co.jp/).

【reference image】
※Text and images:Kosuko
※Costco Wholesale Japan Co., Ltd.
※FBS Fukuoka Broadcasting "ARNE" (Every Thursday from 24:54)

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