Japan-Taiwan Festival Sells "A-Zhu Snow on Fire" – What Is This? Even Taiwanese Can’t Understand

▲ The "A-Zhu Snow on Fire" sold at the Japan Tokyo Tower Taiwan Festival is actually spring roll ice cream (peanut roll ice cream). (Photo / Provided by the "Taiwanese Wives in Japan" Facebook fan page)Taiwanese Wives in Japan(Facebook fan page)

Reported by Huang Shiyuan / Taipei

From March 18 to 20, Tokyo Tower in Japan hosted the "Taiwan Festival," bringing the essence of a Taiwanese night market right to Tokyo Tower to promote Taiwan’s travel and food appeal. However, some Taiwanese travelers noticed that a promotional flyer introduced a dish called "A-Zhu Snow on Fire," but the photo beneath it showed a spring roll ice cream (peanut roll ice cream), leaving everyone completely baffled.

“Taiwanese Wives in Japan"The Facebook fan page posted on the 20th that a Taiwanese friend visiting Tokyo Tower in Japan saw 'Ah Zhu Snow Roasting' and asked them confusedly what this food was. Being Taiwanese themselves, they had never heard of 'Ah Zhu Snow Roasting' either and burst out laughing. After carefully looking at the picture and description, they finally understood that it was actually spring roll ice cream. The 'Taiwanese Wives in Japan' fan page felt that writing it this way would be completely incomprehensible to the Japanese. It would be better to directly translate it—translating it literally would actually be more romantic. So they translated it as 'Spring Roll (Harumaki) Ice Cream (Aisu Kurīmu)' and explained how this unique dessert came about."

The Facebook fan page "Taiwanese Wives in Japan" posted on the 20th that a Taiwanese friend visiting Tokyo Tower in Japan saw "A-Zhu Snow on Fire" and asked them confusedly what this food was. As Taiwanese themselves, they had never heard of "A-Zhu Snow on Fire," and they burst out laughing. After carefully looking at the picture and description, they realized it was actually spring roll ice cream. The "Taiwanese Wives in Japan" fan page felt that writing it this way made no sense to Japanese people—it would have been better to directly translate or even do a literal translation, which would’ve sounded more romantic. They translated it as "Harumaki (spring roll) Ice Cream" and thought that much better conveyed the fun feeling the original name was meant to evoke.

▲ The "A-Zhu Snow on Fire" sold at the Japan Tokyo Tower Taiwan Festival is actually spring roll ice cream (peanut roll ice cream). (Photo / Provided by the "Taiwanese Wives in Japan" Facebook fan page)

So why is it called "A-Zhu Snow on Fire"? It turns out there is really a shop on Jiufen Old Street named "A-Zhu Snow on Fire" that specializes in peanut roll ice cream. Since the Taiwan Festival brought both Taiwanese night market and Jiufen foods to Tokyo Tower, it’s possible the shop’s name was mistakenly used as the name of the dish.
A-Zhu Snow on Fire
Address: No. 45, Jishan Street, Ruifang District, New Taipei City