Candy Bars You Can't Find In The US

Japan is notoriously obsessed with Kit Kats, Nestlé's iconic chocolate bar with layers of wafers and chocolate. The country is home to high-end boutiques devoted to Kit Kats, which are available in a constantly changing array of flavors. Some of those flavors — such as the Edamame Soy Bean Kit Kat or the Hot Japanese Chili Kit Kat — sound iffy. But others, like the Bake 'N Tasty Mini Kit Kats, sound like pure candy genius. 

Debuted in 2014, the Bake 'N Tasty set itself apart from all other Kit Kats by being bakeable. And baking isn't just allowed — it's suggested. To enjoy the Bake N' Tasty Mini Kit Kat as creator and renowned Japanese patissier Yasumasa Takagi intended, you heat it in a toaster oven so the sugar hardens. The sugar hardens faster than the chocolate, resulting in a puffed up, wafer biscuit with an irresistible caramel aroma.

When the Bake 'N Tasty Kit Kats were first released, they were available in original chocolate and custard pudding flavors. Since then, additional flavors like sweet potato, cheesecake, and ice cream, have been added to the line.

To understand the Big Turk candy bar, we must first understand Turkish Delight. A candy from Turkey that many know from reading or watching The Chronicles of Narnia, Turkish Delight is comprised of chewy, gelatinous cubes of starch and sugar, traditionally flavored with rosewater.

The Big Turk candy bar itself hails not from Turkey, but Canada. Manufactured by Nestlé Canada, the candy bar is essentially pink Turkish Delight coated in an ever-so-thin layer of chocolate. Because Turkish Delights are fat free, the Big Turk is quite a bit lower in fat compared to other candy bars — 60 percent lower, to be precise. 

Before you embark on a quest to hunt down a Big Turk, a word of caution: you may have difficulty finding the Big Turk even if you cross the border into Canada. Bloggers report the candy bar isn't that popular among the Caramilk- and Smarties-loving Canadians, so you may have to do some rummaging around the bottom of the candy rack to dig up the illusive treat. 

Over in the land of Switzerland in a town called Ovomaltine, there lived a local pharmacist named Dr. Georg Wander with a dream. The time was 1865, and childhood mortality rate was high because of undernourishment. The pharmacist tried to develop a "power nutrition" out of a malt extract. After Wander died, his son Albert took over, adding nutritious ingredients like egg, milk, and cocoa to his father's concoction. Thus, in 1904, Ovomaltine powder — known as "Ovaltine" by English speakers — was born. The original powder was designed to be dissolved in milk.

Today, Ovomaltine has expanded beyond nutritional powder for beverages into a variety of products enjoyed internationally. In Switzerland and other European countries, you can buy Ovomaltine cereal, Ovomaltine spread, and Ovomaltine biscuits. You can even buy Ovomaltine chocolate bars made from the iconic malted milk powder and hazelnuts — if you're lucky enough to be candy-shopping in Europe, that is. Reviewers note that the candy bar smells like Ovomaltine powder and delivers more of a malty kick than a chocolate flavor.

The Prince Polo chocolate bar surfaced in Poland while the country was still under communist government. In the 1950s, the candy spread to countries across Europe and eventually to Iceland, where it was a huge hit. Legend has it that the candy is so popular in Iceland, local newspaper Morgunblaðið once put out an issue with a front-page headline that read, "Prince Polo is sold out".

On the Nordic island nation, the average resident eats a half kilo (or more than a pound) of Prince Polo each year, according to stats from Icelandic newspaper Visir. This is down from 1970, when Icelanders reportedly consumed a full kilo of Prince Polo every year.

The reason behind Prince Polo's decline in Iceland may have been due to the rise in competition from other chocolate manufacturers when Iceland laxened import restrictions in 1982. But the reason(s) for its success is obvious: Dark chocolate. Four layers of crunchy wafers. Three layers of chocolatey cream filling. Pairs well with coffee.   

A Krembanan ("cream banana") chocolate bar manages to excite the senses before you even open the wrapper. How? Because it's shaped like a banana and wrapped in banana-colored foil. Peel off the foil and take a bite, and the Krembanan delivers on the promise foretold by its shape and packaging: Beneath a layer of chocolate lies a filling of jelly and banana cream.

The magical chocolate bar is a product of Nidar, a Norwegian chocolate and candy manufacturer. Krembanan hasn't had a makeover or recipe update since it was introduced in 1957. In fact, the chocolate bars are still packaged by Nidar's original machine, which was designed especially to package curved, banana shapes, and is the oldest machine in use in the factory.

Krembanan's honest shape and wrapping make it among the few chocolates that taste like the thing they're supposed to look like. If you've ever bitten into a chocolate rabbit only to be disappointed to find it tastes nothing like rabbit, Krembanan may be the bar for you.

Dubbed "the king of fruits" by fans, the durian is an offensive-smelling fruit beloved across Southeast Asia. The pungent fruit is massive, with a spiky shell and soft, yellow flesh. The taste is exotic but the scent is downright putrid, resulting in the fruit being banned on public transportation and hotels.

Despite the durian's overpowering odor, the fruit has earned cult status in many Southeast Asian countries, but arguably nowhere more so than Singapore. As homage to the king of fruits, the country has a erected a durian-shaped building and dreamed up many a durian fruit dish. So it comes as no surprise that Singapore would also produce a variety of durian candies.

One of our favorites is the durian dark chocolate bar from Chocoelf, a Singaporean chocolatier that focuses on low- or no-sugar chocolates. Without any additional sugar, the durian chocolate bar lets you enjoy (or suffer through) the intense flavor of durian.

Among the many singular, fascinating, and sometimes confusing things about China is its ambivalent attitude towards chocolate. As one study noted, the Chinese consume a mere 100 grams of chocolate (around two bars) each year compared to the 90 bars each consumed in many European countries. Noble attempts to infect China with chocolate fever began in the in 1970s, when Hershey, Nestlé, and other members of the world's chocolate giants entered the market. But decades later, chocolate still hasn't took off in the awakening giant.

How can so many of China's more than one billion residents still wave away chocolate bars like they were lukewarm pieces of steamed broccoli? It may have to do with China's food culture, which eschews sweet treats in favor balancing different flavors and advises against excessive sugar for health reasons.

That said, there are some local brands offering their own takes on chocolate bars alongside more popular treats like hard sweets and cotton candy. One such brand is Shantou Yixin Foods Co. which hails from Guangdong, China and manufactures a product listed as "Good Taste Oat Chocolate Chocolate Bar." The product, which looks suspiciously un-chocolatey and kind of like a rice crispy bar, is described as being "jam filling" with "fruity" flavor. In addition to chocolate, the product includes a biscuit — presumably made of oats.

Archaeologists believe Ecuador was the birthplace of chocolate, having discovered evidence of domestication of the cacao tree dating back over 5,300 years. The "Nacional" was the first known cocoa tree to be domesticated by by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture. The cocoa tree was thought to be extinct by the 20th century, but was rediscovered in the valley of Piedra de Plata in Ecuador in 2011.  

Now, the ultra-rare, ultra-coveted cocoa is used in chocolate bars from To'ak, a rainforest conservation project. The non-profit team cultivates Nacional cacao trees and crafts chocolates by hand in thatched bamboo workshops in the middle of the jungle.  

Flavorwise, To'ak chocolates are bold with striking notes of citrus and flowers. Like the other 10 To'ak chocolate varieties currently available, the Islay Whiskey Cask includes two ingredients: cane sugar and cocoa beans. The specific bar is aged for three years in an Islay Whisky Cask and fermented for four days. Also like the other To'ak chocolate bars, the Islay Whiskey Cask comes with an astronomically high price tag: just slightly south of $400 per bar.   

In 2002, Nestlé made history by effectively banning women from the consumption of one its British chocolate bars. Yorkie chocolate bars had a long history of being marketed towards men, with early advertisements depicting burly truck drivers fueling up on the thick chocolate bar while hauling loads cross-country and hitting on women. But in on April Fool's Day in 2002, the chocolate company took their macho marketing to new heights by stamping each bar with a "no women" sign along with a label reading "It's not for girls."

The new packaging sparked considerable and understandable backlash in England and around the world, but also — somehow — a 30 percent rise in sales. The no-women logo and label were taken off the Yorkie packaging in 2012, and exchanged for the tagline "Man fuel for man stuff." Of course, you can still buy the classic no-girls-allowed bars on Amazon.  

At 4.8 ounces, the Yorkie chocolate bar is hearty and chunky. It tastes like milk chocolate and machismo.