Review: Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips & Who to Root for When Your Team is Not In the Playoffs
Junk Food Nation, the Nationals have been statistically eliminated from the MLB playoffs, and the Yankees are down to a one-outer. They have a 0.1 chance of making it…ugh. Well, it’s been a rough year for me, baseball wise. So what can you do when your team doesn’t make it to the playoffs? I mused about this a long time ago – time to update that debate. The two schools of thought are, of course:
(1) Root for the team that knocked you out. That way if they win it all, you can eventually say, “Hey, at least we lost to the eventual champions.” For me, that would be teams from the AL East – Tampa Bay and Boston, and the Braves on the NL side.
(2) Root against the team that knocked you out. Hell hath no fury like a baseball fan scorned.
So for me, the question is, do I then root for my AL East brethren? My take: EFF NO. When my team is knocked out, I want all teams that caused this to get DESTROYED. Tampa Bay, you’re dead to me. Boston, I never liked you anyways. Atlanta? GO SCREW. As I stated before, ZIPPY CHANCE I’m rooting for the team that knocked me out so I can sheepishly say “Well, at least we won to the champs.” I WILL NEVER SAY THAT.
So yeah. Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Cincy and Oakland…I’m all in with you. Detroit, LA, STL….meh.
Today’s junk food: Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips!
Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips: The Money Shot
Junk food Nation, I love crazy chips from other countries. Taro chips, chips made out of sand, imaginary chips – it’s all good in the hood. But I ESPECIALLY love products from a US company that are flavored locally. Crazy Oreo or Pringle flavors from Nigeria? I’m in. Crazy Cheetos from El Salvador? Yum Yum.
So when my friend Karen said her friend had just visited Vietnam/Thailand area, and brought me back some Lay’s, I was STOKED. So, presenting: Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips!
PS: Looking at the picture above, I have NO idea what language this is. Thai, I’m presuming. Russian? Could be. I am CLUELESS.
Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips: WTF
Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips have a picture of….fried pressed squid? I mean, I’ve eaten a lot of crazy things in my upbringing as an Asian, so it doesn’t look that bad. And hell, I eat crawfish and shrimp boils here in the US sometimes. So, seafood and dipping sauce isn’t THAT foreign of a concept to me…but put it on a chip? Tell me more, Lay’s Thailand…
Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips: ???????????
Looking at the back of this bag of Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips….I got nothing. I know I can’t read any of it. Even with other Asian or Persian or Russian or Latin snacks, they sometime put a little sticker of the nutritional info translated…but this has NOTHING. I’m lost. And scared. And hungry.
Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips: Standard look
I opened this bag of Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips and inhaled deeply…and coughed. WOW…that is some POWERFUL shrimp/squid smelling aroma. It was the same smell I smelled when inhaling a bag of shrimp boil…that seafood-y sweet red sauce smell. It was potent. I’m not describing this well. Let’s eat.
Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips: Smell speckles of red
Describing Lay’s (Thailand) Hot Chili Squid Potato Chips flavor requires a story. Growing up, as an Asian kid, there was lots of Asian versions of jerky lying around the house. Beef jerky, prok jerky…and my parents would sometimes have squid jerky! I know, sounds gross. I loved it. Essentially, it was a seafood-y chewy bit of calamari that was dried and seasoned with sugar and salt.
Anyways, for any Asian kids out there who know what I’m talking about, these chips taste EXACTLY like that squid jerky. It was shrimp-calamari tasting…that general seafood flavor… with a bit of sweetness to it, almost like a mild sweet barbeque smokiness. On top of that was the definite flavor of chili oil – not enough to burn, but enough to get that chili oil flavor and emit a small bit of heat.
Yeah, I know this isn’t the best description, but the point is, I LIKED THESE. A lot. But if you’re someone who didn’t like when Lay’s did the Chicken n Waffles flavored chips recently, then you’ll probably find these off-putting.
BUT, if you’re ever in Thailand/Vietnam – eat these! I think you’ll enjoy them. Thanks Karen’s friend!
PURCHASED AT: Somewhere in Thailand/Vietnam
COST: Some sort of Thai/Vietnamese Currency
Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Also, you can always email me at junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com. Let’s do this.
Sincerely, Junk Food Guy
Discuss - 15 Comments
I can picture exactly how the chips taste, and I’ll be avoiding them like the plague. I can’t stand dried cuttlefish.
My cousin on the other hand would love these. One day she got sent home from kindergarten with a note asking her mother never to send her to school with “goldfish” for her snack. Her “goldfish” snack was those tiny dried anchovies you find at the Japanese store.
@Bunny: LOL. I love dried cuttlefish!!!
And that’s SO funny re: your cousin’s note. Hahaha – I love those dried anchovies too
I’m rooting for Bane (he does baseball stadiums too, right?) and whoever’s playing the toasted ravioli-eaters (since I can’t root against whoever’s playing the yankees)
That parenthetical was supposed to indicate that I’d root for whoever’s playing the yankees). Hmmm, is reading Junkfoodguy.com making me a secret yankees fan? Might have to quit it.
@Kahnfucius: MIND MELT!!!!
Those sound… disgusting. I was offered snail recently and could not eat it! I shudder to think what a squid chip would taste like. However, I might like it. But I seriously doubt it! I would give them a try though. ; )
@ E of R: Well…if you’re ever in Thailand ;)…….
I used to chew on that dried cuttlefish snack so much my jaw would lock up. I even used to keep a wad of it in my cheek like a ballplayer. Forget Big League Chew, this stuff gives you that sort of gross swagger you need to feel right at home on a ballfield or battlefield.
@Shorneys: lol – gross. you’re left with a puffy fishy briny patch inside your cheek
Boston is an amazing team, absolutely hated them last year and now i absolutely love them..what a turn around
@Nathaniel: I must admit, Boston has surprised me (grumble). And now with Buchholz back? oooof….they look dangerous
Not the biggest fan of fishy chips, but I kinda enjoyed other Lay’s Thailand flavors.
@Closet Chipsin – I’m gonna try another one next week! VERY cool blog, btw
Dried cuttlefish is AWESOME! I used to buy it in 2lb bags on Sheppard Air Force Base back in ’97.
@Rhio2K: Awesome! It’s definitely an acquired taste, but once you start, you can’t stop.