Calbee Sesame Oil & Seaweed Shrimp Chips
Shrimp chips are one of the many Asian snacks I grew up on. Not only were they commonplace in the grocery stores I used to browse, they tended to be the best bang for buck in terms of snack pieces. I say snack pieces because each stick is fairly light, but the perception of quantity helps to make it feel like a better deal. Kind of like why Hickory Sticks were a super popular snack when I was a kid growing up. All them sticks!
To be specific, the shrimp chips I grew up with are the stick shaped ones, that kind of remind one of a twisted texture looking french fry stick. They are typically lightly crunchy, but rather airy and very light. The kind of light that you can feel crackle as it slowly melts on your mouth. This usually means you can eat an entire big bag pretty easily, which makes sense why they are sold in giant bags. They aren’t a substantial snack by any means, but you feel satisfied by the sheer volume you consume to get there. That or you feel disgusting after you realize how much you’ve eaten. Usually the latter…
The interesting thing about shrimp chips is that they only taste somewhat of shrimp. The flavour of shrimp is present enough that if you don’t enjoy shrimp in general, you probably won’t enjoy these. I’m fairly certain the actual amount of shrimp content in these is small enough that you just get the flavour, and none of the fishiness that seafood generally has. Though I could be wrong, having spent decades around the stuff. It’s one of those snacks I never seem to grow out of.
As I mentioned earlier, the texture is very light, with a slightly crunchy, crisp outer shell that gives way quickly to the airy inner texture. If you’ve ever had a puffed snack, these are very similar. I imagine these are very flat and small when they are still flour, and puff up to their size when they’re fried up.
In terms of flavour of this particular bag, apart from the slight seaweed taste, these taste very similar to the original flavour. Calbee has a whole bunch of various flavours that are most distinct, and for better or worse, this is not one of them. Either that or I haven’t had the OG flavour in too long. But these taste exactly like what I remember the original being – that almost powdered shrimp flavour that light, slightly salty and a little bit of sweet in the aftertaste. It truly is a light snack, and you would be forgiven for downing an entire 70g bag in one sitting.
I should mention that shrimp chips are also made in a flat, chip like format as well. Those end up looking like giant, slightly curled discs and while usually the same ingredients, takes on a different texture of it’s own. I personally prefer these because they’re easier to eat and fit in the mouth, but those ones are good too. Maybe someday if I get my hands on a bag of those I can review them as well.
For now though, I must say that Calbee is still my favourite brand of shrimp chips, and I still love these little sticks to death. It’s made me a bit nostalgic, so don’t be surprised if you see some other flavours being reviewed in the future.
