Will they be "Greeeaatt!"? Oh wait, wrong cat
My pal Grace hooked me up with a bag of these at her last trip down to a Korean grocery store. She knows I'm a fan of international variations of popular American snacks, so this was a natural fit for me!
I've been eating Cheetos since I was a kid. Who could resist a delicious fried corn snack with a strong cheese flavor? Not this chubby kid. Granted, due to my desire to look more like The Rock and less like Jonah Hill, I've been eating them far less frequently. Still, I have a job to do. Let's see if these cousins of the American Cheetos I've been filling my body with are as tasty as their originators.
When I peeled open the bag of Cheetos, I was expecting a wave of bbq smell to come pouring out of the bag, but it wasn't the case with these Cheetos. They just smelt slightly of corn. In addition, they are also much paler then their US counterparts. I guess there's no reason why they would be orange-colored if they don't have cheese flavor. I go ahead and dig in and like many Asian variations of American snacks, the flavor is subdued. This is usually the case due to the Asians in Asia finding US snacks too "flavorful" or too strong.
The flavor strikes me as familiar, yet unusual. These Cheetos are far less savory than the cheese-flavored ones. They have a slightly sweet finish to them. At first, they bring to mind Wise's Onion Flavored Rings, minus the onion flavor and with far less salt. The more I eat, the more I think they may even have a very distant relation to Kellogg's Corn Pops. It's not nearly as sweet, but that'll give you an idea of how far from overly savory it is. It also doesn't seem as oily, but with that, not quite as crunchy as well. Don't get me wrong, they are crunchy, but if a regular Cheetos in the States has a 10 crunch, these rate about a 8 on the same crunch meter.
"I feel so naked without my cheese flavored coat on!"
The Sweet:
Granted, these don't crunch quite as well as the US ones do, they still do have a great snack texture to them. Their subdued seasoning doesn't send your taste buds into overdrive, but delivers a steady understated flavor that won't tire out your snacking experience in one sitting.
The American "Jersey Shore" version
of Cheetos I'm used to
of Cheetos I'm used to
These aren't savory! That's not really a bad thing, more like something you should be aware of before you buy them in hopes of scratching that savory snack itch. These won't hit that savory snack spot.
Conclusion:
I'm really not too sure how I feel about these innocuous little snacks. On one hand, I like that they don't hit you over the head with overwhelming flavors, but it's also that lack of "umph" that makes these treats not stand out of the snack crowd in any particular way.
At the end of the day, I think it's like a mediocre date; it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. It was OK....and as in snacks as it is to love, I'm looking for more than just OK.
Video of the Week
I've been thinking about this long and hard; what if this blog business never pans out? No one stops by anymore to read my comments, then what would I do?
Maybe I can be a "boyfriend" in Japan. (Note to self: Learn Japanese)
I wonder if they have any US openings?
Glad, if nothing else, for confirmation of what I'm snacking on, as my only hint was a little drawing of a steak on the packaging!
ReplyDeleteDid you enjoy these? The more I snack on products from Asia, the more I find they tend to have sweet notes in them, more so than Western snacks.
Delete