I had my first taste of Irwins salted egg potato chips and salted egg fish skin some years back (you can read about it here).....and I was hooked alright. They've since introduced more salted egg products and flavours.
The bag says it all......#DangerouslyAddictive...but they forgot to mention #DangerouslyExpensive too!
Irwins salted egg products are not only #DangerouslyAddictive, they're #DangerouslySweet as well. So, don't go overboard with these snacks (harder said than done, right?). I restrained myself and only had a few pieces (like less than five of each type) because of the sugar content, so my family finished the rest. After all, I'm not the biggest snacker in my family (that accolade belongs to my husband) but crispy chips is my one weakness...although I prefer potato chips over other kinds of chips.
To start, the Salted Egg Fish Skin (which I had before) had more salted egg flavour, so the overall profile is also sweeter since you'll need more sugar to balance out the saltiness of the salted egg.
This being their very first salted egg product, it's immensely popular coz everybody just wants the original. This one must get the big packet lah since it was so good the last time.
As for the Spicy Salted Egg Salmon Skin, the salted egg is more muted but the spicy flavour (medium spiciness) more than makes up for the overall taste. Although their fish skin snacks aren't fishy in taste but I will say you can't taste the fish as much as the previous salted egg fish skin probably because this one has a spicier profile.
I also liked that this one had a more savoury overall taste since there's less salted egg and you don't need as much sugar to balance out the saltiness. I also felt that this somehow had a lighter and crunchier texture compared to the earlier salted egg fish skin, again probably due to the use of less of salted egg. So, depending if you like more salted egg flavour which comes with more sweetness, then the salted egg fish skin will probably be a better choice for you. For me, I definitely preferred the spicy salted egg salmon skin to their original salted egg fish skin.
If you're thinking along the lines of thin, light and crisp chips, then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed with the Salted Egg Cassava Chips.
These chips are thick, so they're crunchy rather than crispy, with an unbelievable salted egg taste that Irvins has come to be known for together with the fragrance of the curry leaves.
For the Black Pepper Salted Egg Salmon Skin, the fish taste in this salmon skin comes through more than the earlier salted egg fish skin and because it's salmon skin, expect the crisp to be thicker but it's still super crunchy nevertheless.
There's a light heat from the black pepper but not overly peppery. This being the only one that didn't have salted egg in the mix (or maybe there was a little), it was also the first one that tasted more savoury than sweet. This wasn't as impressive.
The Salted Egg Gyoza Skin had the thickest crisp among all the ones I tried, so it had a harder but still crunchy bite compared to the rest.
The taste of the salted egg in this one is also pronounced as the bland gyoza skin will need every little bit of help to bring flavour. This was the least endearing to me.
Overall, there's nothing negative to say about Irwins salted egg products except for the price. As a Malaysian eating it, the price translates to three times (we can't help but convert since we're not earning SGD)....and S$8 - S$10 (or around RM30) for just a (small) bag of chips (however good) and so little of it (about 100g only) is just too much to pay for a snack. It can be a once in a blue moon snack or, better still, if we don't have to pay for it (like these were)....lol!
After tasting six types, the Spicy Salted Egg Salmon Skin and (the earlier) Salted Egg Potato Chips turned out to be my favourites and the best ones for my palate. The long weekend's here...time to bring out the snacks.....lol! ^.^
LOL! It even comes with a warning. I have seen this Irwins snacks at Jaya Grocer and could not bring myself to pay so much for so little. Anyway, I don't like those salted egg snacks due to the sweet taste. I wished that it could just be salty.
ReplyDeleteFortunately for Irwins, there are more people (unlike us) who like these salted egg snacks for its sweet taste! :P
DeleteThis is a invited review post, I assume? But anyway, salted egg chips/snacks always a luxurious snack for me, be it Irwins or others no brand product, they are super duper expensive and I only buy them once in a blue moon. I always feel extra guilty after eating salted egg yolk chips as they are "saltier" and have stronger seasonings than other chips, although the satisfaction is double too. =.="
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree...these salted egg snacks have very robust flavours and that's the very reason why many people love them. And nope, this is not paid post/invited review, otherwise I don't think they'd be very pleased with me if I say their products are dangerously expensive and dangerously sweet....lol! ;P
DeleteI try not to keep snacks in the house because I can't stop at just a snack portion, I usually end up consuming a whole meal's worth!
ReplyDeleteDon't we all? ;) But I managed to exercise control...hah..hah.
DeleteThese snacks are pretty nice but the price & calorieeeeeee
ReplyDelete