It’s Hard to Eat ALL the Chips…

You know what I’ve discovered? There are a lot of damn chip flavors in the world. A lot.

And that means there are a lot of chips in today’s smackdown, so let’s get right down to it.

These Lay’s larb chips I tried on my own. Larb is a Thai salad of chopped meat, onions, mint, chilis, and other stuff. I don’t know what’s in it, but I know when it’s in my mouth that it’s delicious, and that’s the important thing.

Same thing with these chips. Holy schmoly, these were good! They were only a mini 5 baht bag (about, what, 10 cents?), and the only place I’ve ever seen them is in my buddy Greg’s old condo building in Chinatown, so if you see them elsewhere, buy them and eat them! Two thumbs up, for sure.

Megan + These Chips = Luv4Eva

The rest of the chips required a chip tasting session, so I invited the crew to help me out.

In order from worst to best, the chips were…

6. Greenday Okra Chips

Eeeeewwwwwwww!

This is about all these were good for.

So, if you take whole okra, freeze dry them and then fry them, you get “okra chips”. You also get “gross things that nobody wanted to eat”. They also got slimy as you ate them. I like okra in most any way: pickled, fried, curried…but apparently I don’t like okra chips. None of us did!

Rating: :(

5. Lay’s Rasa Salmon Teriyaki Chips

Meh.

Brock and Josh brought these back from Indonesia for me. That’s a long flight for a bag of chips that we all agreed were totally meh. They were just kind of thin and anemic, without a lot of flavor. We could tell they were going for the teriyaki, but it didn’t stand out strongly at all. Guy insisted they had a weird creamy texture, which I didn’t really detect.

Rasa Salmon Teriyaki chips: Really meh.

 4. Greenday Jackfruit Chips

Not bad.

They didn’t smell great, so we all recommend that you just eat them without smelling them. They were a little sweet, and Brock confirmed that they are freeze-dried, then fried. Josh said they tasted like “starburst-flavored styrofoam”. Overall, we thought they were pleasant, although I probably wouldn’t buy them again.

Corey is really anxious to eat these chips.

3. Tastee Kimchi Hot Plate

Can somebody tell me the real name of these in Thai?

We liked the texture, but the kimchi flavor was pretty weak. There was a hint of pickled cabbage flavor, but that’s it. I wouldn’t buy them again, though I did finish the bag with my dinner the next day.

Guy is not so sure about these.

Josh compares the kimchi (on his right) and the salmon terikyaki (obviously his left). Which would you choose (I'm not leading here, but the kimchi one is the right answer)?

2. Doritos Cheeseburger

Mmmmm....

Corey and her boyfriend Dave brought these over from Canada for me! Isn’t that nice?

They were my favorite, but everybody else agreed they were 2nd place, so I’m going with the group consensus (even though it’s MY blog).

Josh huffing the chips. They did smell THAT good.

I think it was Guy who said, “What are they doing to my mouth?!” Maybe Brock, I’m not sure. We all thought they were great, though. They smell like hamburger pickles and taste like fake mustard, ketchup, pickle, and grilled meat. You know, just like a bad McDonald’s hamburger.

The things they can do with chemicals these days, huh?

So, I realize “bad McDonald’s hamburger” does not sound like something you want to eat–unless you do–but I could not stop stuffing these in my face. SO GOOD.

1. Jack & Jill Vegetarian Chicharron

Nom nom nom nom...

My friend Ray and his wife Nok, who are perhaps the nicest and sweetest human beings to ever walk the planet, brought me these from the Philippines! And I’m not saying that they’re that nice just because they brought me chips from the Philippines; I’m saying it because it’s true. If you know them, you know that. There was also a bag of fake bacon chips they brought me, but they got stolen during the night they passed the bag over to me. Seriously, somebody took them!

Anyway, everybody loved these.

Josh loves these so much he has been transformed into a savage beast!

Comments on these:

“Chip crack!”

“One of the best chips I’ve ever eaten.”

They were a little spicy and had a strong, yet not overwhelming, flavor. I don’t know that they really tasted like chicharron, but they tasted like love.

What, is that weird?

Chips I Did Not Get to Taste: Doritos Onion Rings and Ketchup

Corey and Dave brought these for me, too, but I made the mistake of leaving them at Brock and Josh’s for a few weeks.

I was shocked to hear that they mysteriously disappeared. I’m sure we’re all blaming the dog. You know, the one that ate my homework.

Puffin always eats the chips!

I mean, if Brock and Josh had eaten them–and I’m not saying they did!–then I’m guessing they would look like this:

Brock showing his Catholic guilt and Josh showing his total indifference.

Ahem.

p.s. Credit goes to Brock for the people pictures (besides, you know, the one he was in).

p.p.s. I realize this is totally vain, but I just want to say that if you see something funny on my nose, it’s not a giant zit; it’s a nose piercing! Geez, I’m vain!