We’re back from an amazing tour in southeast Asia, which included Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore. What do you think took up most of the space in my luggage? Snacks, of course.
This is the third of a series of posts containing tasting of over 35 candies and snacks I collected during my travels. The first post in the series can be found here and the second here. Today we’re about to discover another 8 snacks.
1. Yan Yan Kids AKA The Fun Dip Stick
I didn’t make this up. “The Fun Dip Stick” – it really says so on the box. The snack is produced by a Japanese brand called Meiji Seika, the same brand that brought Hello Panda to this world.
Yan Yan comes in different flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, chocolate banana and more. I came across the pink version of Yan Yan which include a strawberry flavored dip. The pink box I purchased contains 4 boxes divided into two compartments: on one side a few biscuit sticks and on the other strawberry cream. The biscuits were crunchy and tasty, accompanied by just the right amount of strawberry dip! I enjoyed this snack and would definitely buy it again.
2. Market O Real Cheese Chip
These Korean chips are perhaps the crunchiest potato chips I’ve ever had. Unlike most potato chips, they are small and pretty thick. They have rich cheese flavor and are really fun to munch on. They are made with Danish cheddar cheese and camembert cheese. Moreover they are baked and not fried, which might make you feel a little better about shoving these into your face (but not by much, it is a snack after all).
I’ve already tasted another snack by the brand Orion – Real Brownie – which was very nice. So far I’m very impressed with the quality of snacks this brand produces. No wonder they are very popular in Korea.
3. Calbee Prawn Crisps
Calbee is a major Japanese snack food company creating various potato chips snacks. From every country we visited so far in Asia we returned with some Calbee chips. We even visited their store on Takeshita street in Harajuku, Tokyo, where we had some chocolate drizzled chips as well as Maple Syrup a & Cream Cheese chips.
These Calbee prawn crisps I picked up from Hong Kong are very unique – both in shape and in flavor. They are Okhotsk sea salt flavored and are shaped like a snowflake. The packaging is very festive and winter-themed. They are filled with air bubbles and are pretty thick which kind of reminded me the Israeli Dubonim snack. It’s probably one of my favorite from the bunch.
4. Cuttlefish Snack
This snack is not for the faint of heart. Just look at this package – a big skewered squid grilled on fire with a butter cube. We got this one in Seoul, from Lotte Mart, a large supermarket with many interesting snacks. This brand produces some really interesting snacks, like the Banana Kick we tasted previously.
Inside the bright orange bag you’ll find squid-shaped wheat based crisps. It’s super crunchy in texture and has a somewhat smoky flavor. I think the texture is super fun, but the flavor can be better and if there was no after-taste if would be best.
5. Butter Caramel Pringles
We’re really on a roll here with the 4th chips snack in a row! Unlike the Cuttlefish snack, these ones are sweet! They are inspired by the honey butter craze which took Korea by storm and are exclusively available there.
It’s my first time tasting sweet flavored Pringles and I was really skeptical when I saw them in Seoul but I couldn’t resist trying them out. I’m not sure it’s for everyone but I really really like these! The butter caramel taste is very prominent and the packaging is reminiscent of old snack stands in the circus.
6. Awesome Soy Chip
Which is really not that awesome. Actually it’s quite bad and is pretty much like eating cardboard. This snack has a air of mystery. I just couldn’t locate anything about it online. The only words on the packaging are too generic – “Every meal, Awesome, High fiber, Soy fiber, Oat fiber and Baked non-fried”. Sounds good and healthy and the packaging is very pretty. Too bad everything else sucks.
7. Twisties The Big Cheese
Shaped like Cheetos but not as messy and a bit less tasty. These cheese corn snack are an Australian icon for more than 60 years but these ones were actually manufactured in Malaysia. They are very crispy and crunchy and taste nice.It wasn’t a challenge to finish the bag. The most popular Twisties taste is Cheese and Chicken but they come in many other flavors, such as Spicy Sausage, Yo! chicken, Honey BBQ Wings and more. They even launched a Cheese & Mite flavor in Australia back in 2013.
8. Hokkaido Strawberry Caramel
First off check out this cool, and yet somewhat disturbing package! The strawberry ballerina dances around with what looks like a doll or perhaps a small bunny corpse. Well I love strawberry and I love caramel so this was a safe bet for me. Indeed I loved these creamy, individually packed, caramel candies. They also don’t stick to your teeth, which is a big plus. On Donan’s website you can find these in many different flavors – Corn, Potato (WHAT), Melon, Azuki Bean, Hokkaido Butter, Tokachi Kinako (toasted soy flour) and more. If presented a chance I would get them all!
For more candy hauls visit these posts:
Giant Snack Haul from Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore
Giant Snack Haul from Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore [Part 2]
[Part 1] Japanese Snacks Galore
[Part 2] Japanese Snacks Galore – Bigger, Sweeter and Weirder
Tasting 17 Japanese Kit Kat Flavors
Universal Yums Box – February-April Boxes Review
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