I know I haven't been on much lately, but this will change soon enough.
Anyhow, I ran into these little crunchy beer snacks today and thought giving it a minor review.
SuZhou Youi Foods Co. is a Chinese (not Chinense
) company specializing in nut related snacks (not as much as DickT, but still...). they manufacture many, many products, but the ones I encountered were the 'Chilli flavor coated', 'Green Wasabi flavor coated' and 'White Wasabi flavor coated' green peas.
Chilli flavor coated green peas
Ingredients:
Green peas, sticky rice, sugar, salt, starch, soy oil, chilli powder, spices and food coloring (Tartrazine 'E-102', Brilliant Blue FCF 'E-133')
The peas come in a handy little airtight bag for keeping them all fresh and crunchy. it has a very appealing look to it, actually. you can clearly see a realistic picture of the product on top of the bag, plus a description of how hot it is and the net weight, which is only 72 grams. according to them, it's "Hot" (2/4 on their scale), the mildest after their "Spicy" (1/4) 'Spicy Beans' (which I did not try). after applying some force and using some teeth (they really want to keep them fresh and crunchy), I finally opened the bag. the smell of the spices instantly fills the air and it somewhat reminds me of chicken soup powder, which is surprising but not necessarily a bad thing. the peas look exactly like in the picture printed on the bag. some are coated more than others, but all are coated which is a nice thing as sometimes those snacks aren't so consistent. the texture of the peas is good and they are very crunchy. the taste is very good as well, just not as salty as I expected. the first thing you notice when eating one of these peas is the distinct green pea flavor, only then you feel the flavor coating, which tastes a lot like generic spices you get in other snacks. no real chile flavor, but goes nicely with beer. the heat is almost non-existent, to me at least. I had to eat a handful just to feel a mild tingle at the tip of the tongue.
Heat: 1/10
Flavor: 5/10
Overall, it's a decent snack with a very mainstream taste to it so other people seem to like it. I'd buy it again.
Green Wasabi flavor coated green peas
Ingredients:
Green peas, sticky rice, sugar, salt, starch, soy oil, wasabi and food coloring (Tartrazine 'E-102', Brilliant Blue FCF 'E-133')
These ones come in the same nice little compact bag, containing the same net weight of 72 grams. the cover is a tad different, but the same idea with a big realistic picture of the product on it. this one is labeled as "Extra Hot" (3/4 on their scale), even though the only "spicy" ingredient is Wasabi, which isn't really hot at all. the peas smell like, well... peas. no real wasabi smell to it, but this all changes once you put one of the babies in your mouth. the green pea flavor is hardly there and it only slightly noticeable as an aftertaste. the wasabi flavor is intense, and eating these is like eating solid chunks of crunchy wasabi. a medium wasabi-like burn sensation, which is somewhat light overall. I do have to emphasize how wasabi in general feels light to me, even a raw one. just not the type of burn that gets to me. after a handful of these, my nose opened up and I could barely feel the cold I caught a few night ago.
Heat: 2-3/10 (Wasabi-like burn, that is completely different than a Capsaicin one)
Flavor: 7/10
I like this one! I guess you got to like wasabi in the first place to like it, but I personally do. goes excellently with beer. mmm... beer! would probably not buy this one, but you have to read the review below to understand why.
White Wasabi flavor coated green peas
If you reached this far, I guess the reviews didn't suck too hard.
Ingredients:
Green peas, sticky rice, sugar, salt, starch, soy oil, wasabi and food coloring (Tartrazine 'E-102', Brilliant Blue FCF 'E-133')
These appealing white covered peas are again in the same little bag, same net weight of 72 grams and realistic picture. even the ingredients are identical to the ones of the 'Green Wasabi flavor coated' peas. now I've seen real wasabi before and it's not white, it's more of a creamy green-ish color, so I would think this one is made of horseradish and it's even likely the other one is, too. the heat rating printed on it is "Fire" (4/4 on their scale). again, it does not contain Capsaicin in any form, so it's not really hot, just wasabi-hot. these ones too have the same simple green pea smell to them. the taste is again a very intense wasabi flavor, even more intense than the 'Green Wasabi' ones. there is no green pea flavor sneaking up on you, just a solid wasabi flavor. the heat on these also much more intense. I shoved a handful right into my mouth on the first try and it burned up my nose, like... really burned. it felt like I just had a kilo of garlic or something, which is really weird, but I like it. this one is like an improved model of the review above it. all the things I liked about it, are much better here.
Heat: 5+/10 (Wasabi-like burn, that is completely different than a Capsaicin one)
Flavor: 8+/10
This one is my new favorite. I would deffinetly buy some more... a lot more. if you like wasabi (and beer!) this is the snack for you.
Notes:
Anyhow, I ran into these little crunchy beer snacks today and thought giving it a minor review.
SuZhou Youi Foods Co. is a Chinese (not Chinense
) company specializing in nut related snacks (not as much as DickT, but still...). they manufacture many, many products, but the ones I encountered were the 'Chilli flavor coated', 'Green Wasabi flavor coated' and 'White Wasabi flavor coated' green peas.Chilli flavor coated green peas
Ingredients:
Green peas, sticky rice, sugar, salt, starch, soy oil, chilli powder, spices and food coloring (Tartrazine 'E-102', Brilliant Blue FCF 'E-133')
The peas come in a handy little airtight bag for keeping them all fresh and crunchy. it has a very appealing look to it, actually. you can clearly see a realistic picture of the product on top of the bag, plus a description of how hot it is and the net weight, which is only 72 grams. according to them, it's "Hot" (2/4 on their scale), the mildest after their "Spicy" (1/4) 'Spicy Beans' (which I did not try). after applying some force and using some teeth (they really want to keep them fresh and crunchy), I finally opened the bag. the smell of the spices instantly fills the air and it somewhat reminds me of chicken soup powder, which is surprising but not necessarily a bad thing. the peas look exactly like in the picture printed on the bag. some are coated more than others, but all are coated which is a nice thing as sometimes those snacks aren't so consistent. the texture of the peas is good and they are very crunchy. the taste is very good as well, just not as salty as I expected. the first thing you notice when eating one of these peas is the distinct green pea flavor, only then you feel the flavor coating, which tastes a lot like generic spices you get in other snacks. no real chile flavor, but goes nicely with beer. the heat is almost non-existent, to me at least. I had to eat a handful just to feel a mild tingle at the tip of the tongue.
Heat: 1/10
Flavor: 5/10
Overall, it's a decent snack with a very mainstream taste to it so other people seem to like it. I'd buy it again.
Green Wasabi flavor coated green peas
Ingredients:
Green peas, sticky rice, sugar, salt, starch, soy oil, wasabi and food coloring (Tartrazine 'E-102', Brilliant Blue FCF 'E-133')
These ones come in the same nice little compact bag, containing the same net weight of 72 grams. the cover is a tad different, but the same idea with a big realistic picture of the product on it. this one is labeled as "Extra Hot" (3/4 on their scale), even though the only "spicy" ingredient is Wasabi, which isn't really hot at all. the peas smell like, well... peas. no real wasabi smell to it, but this all changes once you put one of the babies in your mouth. the green pea flavor is hardly there and it only slightly noticeable as an aftertaste. the wasabi flavor is intense, and eating these is like eating solid chunks of crunchy wasabi. a medium wasabi-like burn sensation, which is somewhat light overall. I do have to emphasize how wasabi in general feels light to me, even a raw one. just not the type of burn that gets to me. after a handful of these, my nose opened up and I could barely feel the cold I caught a few night ago.
Heat: 2-3/10 (Wasabi-like burn, that is completely different than a Capsaicin one)
Flavor: 7/10
I like this one! I guess you got to like wasabi in the first place to like it, but I personally do. goes excellently with beer. mmm... beer! would probably not buy this one, but you have to read the review below to understand why.
White Wasabi flavor coated green peas
If you reached this far, I guess the reviews didn't suck too hard.
Ingredients:
Green peas, sticky rice, sugar, salt, starch, soy oil, wasabi and food coloring (Tartrazine 'E-102', Brilliant Blue FCF 'E-133')
These appealing white covered peas are again in the same little bag, same net weight of 72 grams and realistic picture. even the ingredients are identical to the ones of the 'Green Wasabi flavor coated' peas. now I've seen real wasabi before and it's not white, it's more of a creamy green-ish color, so I would think this one is made of horseradish and it's even likely the other one is, too. the heat rating printed on it is "Fire" (4/4 on their scale). again, it does not contain Capsaicin in any form, so it's not really hot, just wasabi-hot. these ones too have the same simple green pea smell to them. the taste is again a very intense wasabi flavor, even more intense than the 'Green Wasabi' ones. there is no green pea flavor sneaking up on you, just a solid wasabi flavor. the heat on these also much more intense. I shoved a handful right into my mouth on the first try and it burned up my nose, like... really burned. it felt like I just had a kilo of garlic or something, which is really weird, but I like it. this one is like an improved model of the review above it. all the things I liked about it, are much better here.
Heat: 5+/10 (Wasabi-like burn, that is completely different than a Capsaicin one)
Flavor: 8+/10
This one is my new favorite. I would deffinetly buy some more... a lot more. if you like wasabi (and beer!) this is the snack for you.
Notes:
- The writer did try the products several times, with and without beer (I'm only human, so I too can be wrong sometimes!), including while writing these reviews.
- Beer!
good to see you're back buddy
