2015-05-12-114412

What is the first thing you want to eat when you wake up in the morning? Rice? Granola and yogurt? Toast and jam? If the potato chip company Koikeya had it their way, your answer would be “morning potato chips.”

The potato snack company, known for their wild flavors like mandarin orange, truffle and avocado cream cheese, have decided to break into the breakfast market, announcing the release of their two new flavors: Peach and Banana. 

A few months ago we gave you a sneak peek into the morning meals of 20 Japanese people. Included in the mix were traditional Japanese rice-based meals and more Western-influenced breads and toasts, but not a single potato. It’s not that Japan has never heard of eating potatoes at breakfast, after all, McDonald’s Japan serves hash browns in the morning.

To be fair, we’d be hard pressed to find any Westerner who eats breakfast potatoes on a daily basis, but some hash browns or home fries once in a while wouldn’t be thought of as out of the ordinary. What would be a little out of the ordinary, however, would be potato chips. Who eats potato chips for breakfast?

Apparently, Koikeya wants everyone to. Part of the goal of their new line of breakfast chips is to add potato chips as the 4th main breakfast staple, along with rice, bread and granola. They want their chips to be a breakfast food you can eat with no hassle, yet will be nourishing and satisfying. (We’re not sure where the nourishment comes in here.)

Contrary to what you may think, Koikeya isn’t going for the savory side of breakfast. Sausage, bacon, even natto (fermented soy beans often eaten at breakfast) would seem like obvious choices for Japanese breakfast chips, yet they’ve chosen to take the sweeter road instead.

Koikeya’s research team decided to look at potato chips more as pancakes or granola. From there they tried to think of what flavors accent those dishes best and settled on fruits. The trickiest part was deciding what fruit flavors go best with potatoes. This took some extensive trial and error, but they eventually found peach and banana to be the best two flavors.

▼ Peaches and bananas are great breakfast foods on their own.

F7DRSWIHJGE1PQK

Sorry, but peach flavored potato chips do not sound appetizing. Then again, neither do mandarin orange or yuzu chips, but they seem to fare well enough.

Unappetizing or not, these chips will have to be consumed, even if only to see what they taste like. If you’re feeling adventurous, the new flavors will be released in convenience stores on May 18 and in supermarkets from June 1. If you try them, make sure to let us know what you think!

Source: Narinari
Image: Koikeya, Instructables