I loved the idea that I had no preconceived notion as to what this may or may not taste like. I don't even know what the dish is that the snack is trying to emulate, so I didn't have a frame of reference to say whether it succeeded in making it taste like the item or not. When was the last time you ate something without any idea what it may taste like at all?
The Attraction
It's looks sort of like Italian ziti, but with an egg in it. Portable ziti, in a bag? OK, count me in! It also didn't hurt that there was absolutely no English on the bag other than "SO HOT" in caps.
The Review
First, when I cracked the bag open, it had a slightly sweet smell. Yes, that was my first thought too, sweet? I was definitely not expecting that. Ziti isn't sweet, but then again, this wasn't suppose to be like ziti. I take my first bite and in addition to being greeted with a nice crunch, I start to think that the smell should have tipped me off. It was sweet! It reminded me of a cereal I've had before, perhaps Sugar Smacks. Then as I come to the tail end of consuming my first bite, I get a hit of the heat. I think my brain was confused by this combination; sweet and spicy? What is this? It wasn't a punch in the face of fire, rather it was more of like a firm tap on the shoulder that said, "I ain't no cereal, fool!" I had to have another piece to confirm that what I just tasted was real.
The Sweet
From the crunch to the slightly sweetness to the spiciness, this was a pretty perfect balance. The sweet and spicy combination worked well. It wasn't too much of one or the other. Neither one was over the top and dominated the other. Even now as I try to imagine that flavor, it's difficult to recreate; I can imagine the cereal taste of it, but when I try to imagine the spiciness, my mind tends to drift into a savory spicy and that's not it at all. It's a sweet spicy.
The Bitter
If there is a downside, it would be that the packaging has no english on it. Some might say that since the product is from Korea and probably intended for Koreans, that there's no need for it. Other than that, it's hard to find something to complain about.
I have no idea if this product taste like what it suppose to taste like in comparison to the real dish it is trying to capture the essence of, but what I do know is that I found myself eating one and then another and then another. That says about all you need to know about what I think about this snack.
