Snacks

Discovering Snack food in Asia

Being an expat in a whole new country means that for a  while at least… just going to the grocery store or 7-eleven can be an exciting bewildering experience! And part of the fun of being in the country longer then just as a tourist is that you get to keep trying new snacks and drinks and restaurants  ’til eventually you have new favorites. In Costa Rica for me, my favorite snacks were dried plantains with lime seasoning and butter cookies. When I met Josh he introduced me to some of his favorite finds, like sour cream popsicles and Treatz.

But here we’re still in discovery mode and we thought it would be fun to document the process!

*Oh but please note, this is not a review of exclusively Taiwan made snacks (although we will try many!). This is just us grabbing chips, cookies, crackers, at our local convenience stores as we go about our daily life… But with a small sense of adventure behind each purchase because it’s not something we ever saw in Montana, Oregon, or Costa Rica!

Name: ha! I don’t know

What: So….They are  the size and texture of cheese puffs, but they aren’t cheesy or savory. They are lightly sweet… supposedly coconut flavored I guess? According to the picture on the package anyways (but then again maybe the words with picture of the coconut says its made with coconut oil. LOL. see these are the questions we foreigners are left with!)

Where: 7-eleven, family mart, pretty much everywhere

20NT (approx. $.65USD)

Verdict: one of my favorites!  🙂 🙂

Thanks to my Taiwanese friend Kirby for letting me try a few from his bag to try

* Just discovered a funny piece of trivia about this snack. First the name of this snack… umm…brand I guess? Is “guai guai” (pronounced like “gui” in Mcguire). Which roughly means well behaved. And between that meaning and the green colored packaging of this variety (green’s for go of course) this snack has become a popular good luck charm  for electronics.  Apparently people set these bags near (or on top of?) their poorly behaving computers in hopes that the “well behaved” snack will whip the unruly computers back into shape. If any of you reading this can deny, verify or further clarify, we’d love to know more! Josh jokes that electronics break at my touch… so I am a woman in desperate need of a magic charm of exactly this variety!

Name: Sweet Potato Vegetable Chips

What: They’re sticks, like the shape of skinny French Fries. But they were MUCH harder then we expected. Very hard crunch and strongly seasoned. But hey, they’re vegan!

Where: Daiso (basically Taiwan’s version of the dollar store. Except it’s from Japan. So I believe the snacks are too?)

49NT (approx. $1.60USD)

Verdict: Not terrible. It’s officially checked off our lists of one’s we’ve tried!

Another funny convenience store experience in a foreign country: seeing name brands you recognize, that maybe are even from your home country (ie Lay’s) but who have flavor’s in this country that you never saw back at home!

Name: Lay’s…Tomato? (At least, those are the two English words on the front of the package!)

What: The package gives an accurate picture! These veggie sticks are more porous like I was expecting but didn’t get from the sweet potato sticks. The seasoning was not so expected. It basically tastes like powdered ketchup. Josh laughed out loud when he tried them and said they are the chip version of French Fries and Ketchup.

Where: Family Mart? don’t remember…

Verdict: another one checked off the list!

Dried fruit! There’s so many different kinds to enjoy here! Dried plums seem to be especially popular & cheap so we decided to try some… (oh and look at that! They’re made in Taiwan!) As you can see there are many kinds to choose from. We went for the mint flavor…

Name: Dried Mint Plum

What: As you would expect… small dried plum fruit. But what you might not expect? That the mint flavoring is actually menthol! So menthol flavored dried plums.

Where: 7-eleven

$30NT (I think?)  approx. $1USD

Verdict: Josh’s face says it all. But we will try another flavor!

Name: Chili Cheese … (something something Chinese..)

Where: 7-eleven

What: Looks and crunches like cheetos, but not cheetos. Surprisingly spicy

Verdict:  Most of the group we shared this with were not fans, but Josh says about 1/3 through the bag they became addicting. But not sure we’d buy them again.

Name: ??? 🙂

What: Crackers in the shape of Asian rice hats! They have a very satisfying crunch. They’re savory but not not over seasoned with a little flavor surprise at the end, due to some caraway seeds hidden in the dough.

Where: On the side of road! Nothing like a pop up night time snack stand!

$50NT (approx. $1.60)

Verdict: Pretty good! I’d gladly take handful of these, if offered at a party. 🙂 🙂

Name: Well… the only English on the package is “since 1968” 🙂

What:  this is another variety of the first snack reviewed here. Texture & size like a cheese puff, but not a cheese puff! When you open the bag it smells just like a jar of peanut butter! But the flavor isn’t as strong as the smell would lead you to suspect. Its again lightly sweet, with yes a peanut butter like flavoring.

Where: One of the Chinese Language Teaching staff at Shih Chien University gave me a bag to try just because she thought I’d like trying a popular Taiwan snack (little did she know just how true that was!) Seriously people are just sooo nice and generous here in Taiwan! But if you don’t want to just wait until some kind acquaintance gives you a bag of these to try, you can find them at most convenient stores I think 🙂

Verdict: The green packaged coconut variety is still my favorite (with or without their electronics wizardry). But I do like these! 🙂

Name: Ninja Wasabi Doritos (Presumably. The only English words on the bag are Fritolay & Doritos)

What: Yep. Wasabi flavored Doritos.

Where: Family Mart

$55 NT (approx. $1.75 USD)

Verdict: If you like wasabi and you like Doritos, then i think you will LOVE these. I really like Doritos. I don’t like wasabi. So no surprise, this is not my new favorite snack. However I will say that it’s probably the best way I have tasted wasabi flavoring thus far in my life. Anyways, the bag didn’t go to waste. Josh could hardly put the bag down.

Name: Lay’s… Chinese

What: Lime Potato Chips…. KEY Lime Potato Chips.

Where: Welcome

$

Verdict: So… I was sorta thinking these might be the potato chip version of Tostito’s Hint of Lime corn chips.  And they are sooo not. These really are like key lime flavored… its like a sweet flavoring, so more of a sweet and salty instead of savory/sour thing. Kinda strange. Glad I tried them, they made me laugh. But haven’t gone back to buy more.

Name: Lay’s Mystery Flavor

What:  I guess its red thai chile pepper and black pepper potato chips? (based on the picture)

Where: Welcome

$

Verdict: Flavorful but not overwhelmingly so, and same with the spiciness level. Its got small kick but nothing as intense as jalapeno chips. Actually, I don’t really notice the spice until I’m ways into the bag.  We’ve bought 2 bags of these so far this week! So definitely a new favorite.