日本から飛行機でポテトチップスが届きました! [Potato chips arrived by plane from Japan!]

We sample a wealth of chip staples from Japan.

Tufts of cotton snow pillow atop Mount Fuji. Shoppers fill the crowded streets of Osaka, amber with warm evening light spilling forth from cozy izakayas. Grey clouds of breath converge above a narrow alley in Nagoya as a modest shopkeep fluffs his bags of chips, hoping to allure the holiday crowds.

“くそ,” he sighs, “チップの売上が再び減少 😔”.

Once again, our colossally clouted careers as chipfluencers have caught the wandering eye of a new suitor in the Chipverse. This time, we’ve signed the country of Japan to a one-month sponsorship deal, and in turn will be reviewing Japan’s top chips right here on Ryan and Henry’s Chip Blog.

As part of the deal, we asked Japan to send us a four-chip chipfolio:

1. A basic, “every day”-type chip;

2. A unique or unexpected flavor;

3. A simple yet elegant chip for the adults in the room; and

4. A chip that demonstrates an innovation on the formal qualities of the chip medium.

Our friend Taisei was kind enough to porteur these chips back from Japan for us (thanks Taisei!!), so naturally we couldn’t wait to dive right in.

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Koikeya Seaweed and Salt

A simple chip, for a couple of simple minds... On the bag, Koikeya pledges the quality of their cornerstone ingredients, asserting their potatoes, salt, and seaweed flavor extract to be a cut above those of your average chip manufacturer. Did this first principles-based approach yield a chip that’s truly a cut above?

The higher-quality ingredients certainly make for a healthier-feeling, less greasy experience, and the sprinkling of seaweed flavor does add a pleasant flavor and umami, but at the end of the day this is a very plain, fairly safe chip. It generally scored high across the board, but didn’t have the “wow” factor of a true great. Nothing crazy, but nothing offensive either.

We imagine that these chips fill the same niche as plain American Lay’s: the backbone of a schoolchild’s lunch, reliable if uninspired picnic fare, or second fiddle on a party’s chip table. We’re not mad ‘bout that though — if this is a baseline chip in Japan, we can only imagine the heights that their non-standard chips reach.

6.95/10

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Yamayoshi Wasabeef

The Yamayoshi Wasabeef chips dish up a unique wasabi (hence, “wasa”) and beef (hence, “beef”) combo. The wasabi seasoning is bright, fresh-tasting, and fairly convincing, but, as with most meat chips, the beef flavor is a funky and unwelcome plus-one to the wasabi RSVP.

This is far from the most egregious case of meat chip (see last month’s Max Strong Hot Chicken Wings Lay’s), but the strange, artificial beef flavoring is nonetheless highly unnecessary. The chip itself is a bit flimsy for our kettle-loving tastes, but this particular batch may have suffered from a case of friend-brought-us-these-chips-four-months-ago-staleness-itis for which Yamayoshi cannot be blamed. The bag did feature a very cute green cow, which was a huge plus.

We would love to try a fresh bag of Yamayoshi wasabi chips without the beef jerky extract flavor that was unfortunately included in Wasabeef. This is an interesting idea for a chip flavor, which, if served up fresh and meatless, could prove to be quite tasty.

6.11/10

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Calbee Kataage Black Pepper

Calbee’s Kataage Black Pepper is a tasty and mature chip in the vein of last month’s Lay’s Sensations Sweet Red Paprika. They’re highly reminiscent of Kettle’s black pepper chips (a favorite of ours), but are a bit thinner and not as “intense.” Less of a pepper punch in the face and more of a pepper smooch on the cheek, if you will.

The bag is adorned with famed Japanese woodblock print artist Katsushika Hokusai’s "Thirty-six Views of Tomitake, Fine Wind, Clear Morning," a masterpiece that depicts Mt. Fuji dyed red by the morning sun. The gorgeous bag décor pairs charmingly with the delicious chips contained within, both tantalizing works of art ready to be consumed and appreciated by anyone with good taste.

From the subtle and playful peck of pepper to the beautiful bag art to the delightful crunch, Calbee Kataage Black Pepper chips are an undeniable offering that are sure to be appreciated by anyone that likes food for grown ups. These chips are an instant classic, the kind that has Ryan feeling like “Dang, I should really move to Japan.” Henry is generally convinced as well, but maybe a bit less so.

7.71/10

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Calbee Potato Deluxe

Holy moly…

The Calbee Potato Deluxe bag promises a chip that is three times thicker than a standard potato chip, and, frankly, they’re underselling. In a truly Homeric effort, Calbee has crafted a revelatory concept chip that approaches a heretofore unseen strata of chip texture.

Look how thick this chip is! Wow!

Hovering somewhere between a crisp plantain chip and a silver dollar pancake, the Calbee Potato Deluxe is a textural phenomenon that earned a totally unprecedented 9.5 texture score. The cataclysmically satisfying crunch is reminiscent of a Corn Nut (without corn fragments to stick in your craw), and is so awe-inspiring that the mere sound of that first bite might bring weaker men than us to their knees.

The simple salt flavor is a great call that works to foreground thickness as the main conceit of these chips. That thickness does present a minor conundrum: how much should these chips be seasoned to reach an optimal salt-to-potato ratio? Calbee landed on a ratio that’s a bit saltier than we would prefer — understandable, considering the complexity of that challenge. The chips also had a slight savory aftertaste that we found a little odd, but, again, the main point of these chips isn’t so much the flavor as the texture (of which we simply could not get enough).

We would be remiss not to mention the bag, which also scored an impressive 9.5. Minimal without blandness, stylish without cliché, and carefully crafted, this attractive packaging is as understated, yet premium and appealing as the chips it contains.

We look forward to the day that we encounter more Calbee Deluxe chips. This offering was one of the most alluring and addictive chips that we’ve tried thus far, and is definitely the frontrunner for “chip we would most likely use as a sleeping pad if it were scaled up to human size.”

7.67/10

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We’re grateful to Japan and to Taisei for the opportunity to try these chips. They presented a mind-melting puzzle for our generally American palates, and expanded our horizons to help us truly understand the breadth of chips available to foreign market consumers.

Furthermore, the chips were good enough to earn Japan the distinct honor of having the highest Aggregate National Chip Rating (ANCR) of any country whose chips we’ve reviewed thus far, at 7.11. Congratulations and thank you for sharing your chips with us.

Until next time,

✌️ Chip & Crunch ✌️

Just like chips, this blog is best enjoyed when shared with friends!