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I Tried Lawson’s “Transparent Flan”, Japan Combini’s Latest Fun Offering
It’s a dessert you can literally see through. Lawson tries to keep its lucky marketing streak going with its latest oddity.
Fresh off of its “drinkable mayonnaise” high, Japanese convenience store (combini) chain Lawson is trying to drum up headlines again. Its latest gag product — and this time, I mean “that “gag” in the “novelty” sense rather than the “involuntary vomiting” sense — is a take on a Japanese dessert classic that you can see right through. But how does it taste?
Lawson, Japan’s third-largest combini chain, has been upping the ante lately with its limited edition goods. Its last big headline maker was its drinkable mayonnaise, which did a better job making waves on social media than pleasing people’s taste buds.
Its new effort is a twist on a much-beloved dessert. Flan (プリン; purin) came to Japan at the end of the Edo Era and the start of the Meiji Period, according to sweets maker Glico. Today, it’s a staple dessert found in every Japanese combini and supermarket.
To be fair, the new product isn’t actually “new.” Family Mart sold its own limited-time “transparent flan” in July 2024. The dessert is a type of flan known as “chemical flan” (ケミカルプリン; kemikaru purin), which is made with gelatin instead of milk. So this “transparent flan”…
