As a fan of savory snacks, potato chips are more often than not a part of my diet. From my experience, Japanese chips are light and crispy, like original Lay’s. But this is about the only similarity they share. Japanese chips seem to be less oily and with an abundance of interesting flavors. The packaging of these Ume (plum) flavored potato chips quickly caught my eye. With a bright pink bag printed with pictures of plum blossums and umeboshi (sour pickled plums), I knew I had to give these a try.
As with your typical potato chip, people generally expect saltiness as the main component. When you open the bag, you’ll realize this is probably not the case. The aroma rising into air was of vinegar mixed with a subtle sweetness. The chips look like normal plain potato chips but sprinkled with purplish plum pieces. After your first bite, you’ll realize the wave of flavor that follows. First, you get the salty, but soon after comes the a little bit of sourness like a mild salt and vinegar chip. Once that’s over, you’ll get the delicate, sweet fruitiness of the tart plum.
I was instantly hooked. When I had finished binging on these chips I noticed that there was a slight aftertaste of what I can guess as plum. The best thing about these chips, besides from its unique and delicious flavor is the size of the bag. The bags are fairly small and in that way, did not make me feel bad for vacuuming an entire bag in what was probably a Guinness World Record.
To find your own, you can probably go to any Japanese market. I happened to purchase these at Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Diego. If you want an easy push into interesting flavors of Japanese products, I would definitely recommend Koikeya Suppa Mucho Ume Chips. It provides a comforting combination with the familiarity of potato chips with a bold, out-of-the-box flavor.
As with your typical potato chip, people generally expect saltiness as the main component. When you open the bag, you’ll realize this is probably not the case. The aroma rising into air was of vinegar mixed with a subtle sweetness. The chips look like normal plain potato chips but sprinkled with purplish plum pieces. After your first bite, you’ll realize the wave of flavor that follows. First, you get the salty, but soon after comes the a little bit of sourness like a mild salt and vinegar chip. Once that’s over, you’ll get the delicate, sweet fruitiness of the tart plum.
I was instantly hooked. When I had finished binging on these chips I noticed that there was a slight aftertaste of what I can guess as plum. The best thing about these chips, besides from its unique and delicious flavor is the size of the bag. The bags are fairly small and in that way, did not make me feel bad for vacuuming an entire bag in what was probably a Guinness World Record.
To find your own, you can probably go to any Japanese market. I happened to purchase these at Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Diego. If you want an easy push into interesting flavors of Japanese products, I would definitely recommend Koikeya Suppa Mucho Ume Chips. It provides a comforting combination with the familiarity of potato chips with a bold, out-of-the-box flavor.