Lucky Stars Chips

Lucky Stars

Origin: Chinese Super Market
Type: Chips
Description: Shaped Potato chips

I picked up these chips at the local Chinese market because they were on sale, on sale for $1.39. How that's any cheaper than the other potato chips, I may never know. The first thing I noticed when I opened the bag is that there's more air in there than potato chips, but at least it smells good! It's like if you were to take the smell of regular potato chips and amplify it a couple times over. Yummy!

Even though these are called lucky stars, there are no star shaped chips! They're shaped like the different suits of cards in a deck; hearts, diamonds, spades, and clovers. These chips taste as good as they smell. They're crunchier than regular chips, thicker too. They also have a slight sweetness to them and a strong potato flavor. If you can find a bag at your local market, I would suggest trying them out for yourself.

Lychee Calpico, Ramune, and Soho

Lychee Drinks!

Origin: Japan
Type: Drink
Description: Non-carbonated lychee beverage

Calpico is a popular drink in Japan. It's a non-carbonated beverage that tastes like tangy yogurt. While Calpico by itself is already quite delicious, I was very excited when I found that there was a lychee flavor. Lychee is a small fruit that has a hard shell. The inside has the consistency of a grape with a big pit in the middle. The flavor is very unique, almost flowery. It's hard to describe unless you've tried it. Lychee is by far one of my favorite flavors ever so I would describe drinking this as heaven in a bottle. Yes, one of the best drinks I've ever had.

A while back I had the pleasure of trying both Lychee Soho and Lychee Ramune Soda. The Ramune soda was a little disappointing. The lychee flavor was weak and the soda was a little too acidic for my liking. The Lychee Soho on the other hand was delicious! Mixed with some club soda, it made a really refreshing beverage. I would recommend the Soho, but not so much the lychee ramune.

Taiwanese Strawberry Jelly

Origin: Taiwan
Type: Jelly Snack
Description: Non-refrigerated strawberry gelatin.

I should have known that I was in for trouble when I ran across this beauty in the bargain bin. For a little over $1, you too can partake in this vile treat from Taiwan. This box contains 4 packages of strawberry jelly. They don't need to be refrigerated, which should have been my first clue that this was a terrible idea.

Tear into the wax coated paper packaging and try not to spill the liquid that the pouch contains. Beyond the packaging and the sticky stuff, you'll find a brick of jelly. It smells like strawberry and plastic. This isn't the good kind of jelly, no this is the cheap nasty stuff. It's so full of preservatives that when you bite into it, it falls apart in your mouth. It's a stiff kind of jelly. There seems to be some "fruit" pieces in the middle. They're hard and tasteless. The flavor of the jelly itself tastes like it smells; strawberry and plastic. What's most offsetting is that it's also salty. It's a salty sweet strawberry mess. This is disgusting and I wouldn't recommend it.

Assorted Chinese Pastries

Chinese Pastries

Origin: Chinese Super Market
Type: Pastry
Description: Flaky pastry with filling

Green Tea Pastry

The first pastry we tried was the green tea pastry. The outside has what appears to be tea flakes but they don't have much flavor. The crust or pastry part on the outside is extremely dry and brittle. It gets all over the place when you bite into it. The inside is a squishy but dense green tea flavored filling. It's a little bit sweet and savory. The flavor isn't strong at all, and the texture on the inside is reminiscent of what you would find in daifuku.

Red Bean Pastry

The outside pastry has sesame seeds. The pastry of this one is about the same as the last. Flaky, dry, and pretty bland. Inside is red bean paste. Red bean paste is used in all sorts of food throughout China, Japan, and Korea. It is also sweet and savory. The texture is like a thick sweet paste. It has a unique flavor and goes well with many treats, including this pastry.

Winter Melon Pastry

This pastry has nothing special on the outside, just the same bland crust again. The inside contains winter melon flavored filling. Winter melon by itself is already pretty much flavorless. In Asian cuisines it's mainly used as a vegetable in savory dishes like stews. Here the winter melon paste is as bland as ever. I would not recommend this one, it's bland over all and has little to no flavor what so ever.

Taro Pastry

The outside of this one has some crushed nuts on the top. The crust is the same. Inside of this one, however, you will be delighted to find taro paste. Taro is sometimes called "purple yam". It tastes a little like sweet potato with flowery tones. When cooked, it is light purple in color. This taro pastry is second sweetest with the red bean being the first sweetest.

Overall these pastries are worth trying. My personal favorite is the Green Tea pastry. It's savory, sweet, and has the most balanced flavor. My least favorite was the winter melon, it was a chore to finish. I wouldn't recommend eating these everyday, though I did buy a few extra to eat on mornings when I may be too tired to make breakfast. Because of the dryness of the pastries themselves, these are best eaten with coffee or tea.

Schoko Bananen

Country: Austria
Type: Candy
Description: Chocolate covered banana mousse

Review: The description on this box of Schoko Bananen explains that it's made from real bananas, Chiquita bananas to be exact. This is obvious as the smell of banana is so strong when you first open the box! Look inside and you'll see that there are 2 layers of Bananen snacks in the box, enough to go around for sure.

When you bite into the schoko bananen, the first thing you'll notice is the chocolate shell, it is not that impressive, kind of bland actually. The mousse on the inside tastes of real banana and has a texture similar to marshmallow candy. It's very sticky, a little sweet, and somewhat tart. The sourness of the banana goes well with the chocolate, it brings out the flavor of the chocolate that would be otherwise bland. Overall it's a very rich candy, not something you could eat too many of at once without feeling ill. A simple delicious treat, I would recommend Schoko Bananen to anyone.

Snack Time! The Foreign Snack Food Blog

Snack Time!

Thank you for visiting Snack Time! This is a blog about foreign foods and snacks! Foreign foods, weird snacks, crazy drinks, this is where you'll find all sorts of weird and exciting foods! Some are good, some are terrible, what snack or strange food will we try next? Let's take a trip around the world with foods from all different countries and cultures. It's snack time!