What do you do when you're confronted with a long holiday like the one we just had during the recent Raya and Labour Day holidays that lasted at least 5 days for most people or possibly 9 days for some others?
Well, you get ready some snacks on the side to take you through the long holiday of binge eating while you park your tushy in front of the idiot box, of course.....wuahahahaha! Ah, what bliss! Ok-lah, maybe not quite binge eating as I was somewhat well behaved and exercised some control.
Ever since I first tasted
Calbee's brand of potato chips (
Calbee Potato Farm's Jaga Pokkuru or
Hokkaido Premium Potato Fries), I've been a fan. So, while browsing through
Family Mart one day, my eyes were drawn to some
Calbee potato chips on their display shelves.
I started with these
lightly salted potato sticks for my first try. I mean I've had my fair share of Japanese (specifically
Calbee) potato chips before but I most probably wouldn't be able to recall and find them again since the packaging usually has Japanese wordings only. But these ones are much easier to recognise as there are English wordings + the packaging is colour coded for easy identification.
These potato sticks are super crunchy but also slightly harder in texture coz they're in the form of fries. Lightly salted, they had quite a concentrated potato flavour (but not as concentrated as the
Jaga Pokkuru I once ate, of course).
Encouraged by the taste of the potato sticks, I got the
lightly salted potato chips next. If the previous one came in light blue packaging, this one is recognisable by its darker blue packaging.
Now, this one is even more delicious with its chips being super thin, utterly crispy and lightly salty. It's so thin that it feels very light to eat...meaning you can finish the whole pack (maybe even two) in one go without even realising it.
Next, I got the thick cut
potato chips with sour cream and onion flavour. This one comes in green packaging...again conveniently
colour coded for us for our easy recollection, how nice.
You can really taste the sour cream and onions with this one and though this one wasn't lightly salted, I liked that the chips weren't overly salty either. It had just the right amount of saltiness with the fragrance of onions and taste of sour cream for a well balanced, tasty chip. If you want chips that have the most robust flavour, this is the one. I absolutely loved this one.....my favourite of the four (and my son's too). ^o^
Finally, I got a non-potato type to try, the
full flavoured shrimp chips in red packaging.
This one is similar to the many local brands of prawn chips (that's similarly shaped but thinner). This is one of my favourite crispies to eat but find many of them just super crunchy without any prawn flavour. This one was just as crunchy but at least you can taste the shrimp flavour. I
likey! ^.^
Although these
Calbee chips are very affordable at only RM6.60 except for the sour cream & onion flavour which costs RM6.90, the amount of 70 - 80g in each packet is hardly substantial as it's quite easy to go through the whole packet in one go. I'm now addicted to these chips and no trip to
Family Mart is complete without me coming out of the store with one (or more) of these in my hands.
Hmmm, I wonder if there are more flavours for me to try. You bet I'd be looking out for more (if any).
I try not to buy these snacks too often but potato chips is my ultimate weakness...and making it so easily recognisable and available, it's difficult to refrain myself since it's just a stone's throw away in my taman. I've been buying them....too regularly for my liking. >_< You have to agree that they make the perfect snack for a couch potato (no pun intended), don't they? Happy weekend.....and happy snacking! ;D
This potato chips topic is definitely my interest. I am still reeling from regret for buying one brand recently that fooled me. They cleverly designed it like an English brand and placed them amongst the authentic English chips. The price was also over RM10 but slightly lower than the RM13++ for imported ones. When I got home to eat them, I knew that it was a local taste. I took a look at the manufacturer details and was shocked that it's really local with imported pricing and uses the fonts & colours that resembled my favourite English brand plus the words "Sea Salt". In my heart, I praised this manufacturer for fooling me to buy but lost me as a future custome too. I swore to myself not to simply buy chips again without reading the back of the packaging. I thought I want to experiment new brands but not chips again! I will stick to the brand's I know and not simply experiment again.
ReplyDeleteSo now you can see why we have telepathy in many ways including being fussy over potato chips. I will hop over to Family Mart fo buy your choices to rekindle my earlier days eating this brand. I trust your taste just like how you lured me to eat the costly bread from Family Mart. They have stopped selling that bread now but changed to another type with lesser slices. I don't fancy the new one and buy my bread from Sun Moulin now which produces high quality loaves.
Oh, they've stopped selling the Cranberry Flaxseed Loaf already? I've not been eating bread lately, so I was not aware of this...haiz.
DeleteYeah, I know what you mean by some brands trying to mimic the more popular brands. I've also seen some Calbee brands but produced locally (I think in collaboration with some local companies), so I made sure too (like you) and checked the back of the packaging to ensure that they're imported products from Japan...hee..hee.
As a potato chips lover, my top choices would be Lay's or Ruffles. Sometimes I would try China or Taiwanese brands too when I see them being sold in Facebook live.
ReplyDeleteI've not tried Ruffles but used to eat Lay's. Since finding this Calbee (from Japan) in Family Mart, this is now my go-to default potato chips. ^.^
DeleteAiyoyo... I thought I was very well behaved lately because I haven't bought any snacks. The last one were those crispy fish snacks. Now I am tempted to go to Family Mart to look for Calbee potato chips hee..hee.. I don't believe I have ever seen this brand before. There are two Family Marts in my area and I am going to survey the one closest to me. You are so good, bought one packet on each visit, I would have sapu all 4 types in one purchase hah...hah.. Since all 4 got your seal of approval, I can be assured I will like all of them. Ah the joy of eating potato chips while watching Netflix!
ReplyDeleteHaha, sorry to have tempted you to visit Family Mart. I believe it when you say you'll sapu all 4 types in one purchase....maybe even eat all 4 types in one go...lol! ;D I think you'll find the sour cream & onion flavour to your liking the most.
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