Today we are trying 3 different varieties of filipino Chips.
They are Ri-chee, Cheese Rings, and Marty's Cracklin' Chicharon.
Listed in reverse order -- my favorite being last.
Buff cows are my favorite cows...
3 - Ri-chee by Nuiri Snack
So this is an interesting one. Apparently there's campaigns in the Philippines to get foods with a bit more nutrition in the hands of the poorer families in the country.
Part of that is a line of snack foods that are fortified with Vitamin A -- This is one of them. I guess because people will often have to choose between something nutritious and something quick and tasty (such as chips) they would often go for snack foods. Thus ending up deficient on vital nutrients -- Thus snacks like this were born.
As you can see, fortified with Vitamin A (66% of DV). I suppose it isn't much, but I'm sure it's valuable to a hungry child who just wants something sweet and tasty.
Anyways, let's move on to the taste.
These are kind of weird and interesting to eat... though the taste is actually quite mellow.
They really just taste like some variety of wheat cereal, but that also includes the milk taste.
It's kind of strange to me being able to taste milk in this snack, but not having the wetness of it... because it really tastes like some cereal I've had previously (though I couldn't possibly tell you which one).
Overall, if you want to eat breakfast cereal on the go -- this is a pretty good winner.
And at .79C a bag online, they're a pretty affordable import (Links below as always).
moving on
2 - Cheese Rings by Regent
These things have some pretty interstellar packaging.
I mean look at this anime bae wearing a cheese ring on her head. Shes blasting cheese rings out of her navel or something and channeling them directly into your mouth for maximum flavor!
or something like that...
I wonder if this is kind of like reverse eyeholes man... she breaks through your window and launches cheese rings at you, nearly knocking you unconscious, just to take off into the world never to be seen again.
Woah there, I seem to have gotten a bit stuck.
Wait, they also have a sick space power ranger on the back too? Aw man... I... OK I'll stop.
Anyways, what to say about these...
They're kind of like Cheetos, as one might expect, but they kind of have a less cheesy taste to me and more of a corn flavor. This is, in my opinion, a vast improvement over Cheetos... but I'm sure there are those who would disagree with me.
They're certainly less crunchy as well, kind of having a softer texture...
Overall, I like them pretty well but they didn't blow me away or anything. I hear they're pretty damn cheap in the Philippines and they're an affordable 79c online as well.
1 - Marty's Cracklin Chicaron by Oishi
I guess I don't really have anything on the package to talk about. Sad, definitely not the most exciting package of the bunch. 0/10, would never snack again.
Not really. Okay so these are Vegetarian Chicharons... They are nothing like ACTUAL Chicharons in taste or texture though.
I am not very familiar with the rules of veganism, but I'm pretty sure that these would not qualify as vegan since they're processed on machinery that also processes other animal products.
So... the closest thing I've had to these before is those harvest snaps (lightly salted). They're very, very similar in taste and texture -- though these are shaped a bit differently.
I honestly found these to be pretty damn addicting, but since I like harvest snaps, I suppose that's not very surprising.
Basically...
These are freakin' Smurf.
They were definitely cheaper than harvest snaps too, but you can find harvest snaps at any grocery store.
Oishi claims to use the same technology to make their snacks as the companies in Japan, and I think it's pretty believable since these are extremely similar (Harvest snaps are a Calbee product).
I mean, I like Calbee products in general -- takin' all my money
Anyways, I am finished here, I suppose. I wasn't able to find Marty's cracklin in stock anywhere online in the plain salted flavor -- and the azon reviews for the other flavors are pretty unfavorable.
Maybe they'll be back in later.
Anyways, take care and stay Interstellar