If you thought traditional Japanese breakfasts were unusual, with their servings of fish, pickles, rice and soup, you’ll be in for a surprise when you see the new offering that’s coming to the table to greet you in the morning.
It’s time to say hello to the morning potato chip. Especially designed for breakfast consumption, these bags of fruity – yes, fruity – goodness are said to combine the energy-giving health benefits of the humble potato with two popular fruit flavours: peach and banana.
So how could these chips possibly fare as breakfast meals? Come with us as we head out into unchartered territory, pairing potato crisps with yoghurt, toast, and a bowl of granola and milk. Will the results be delicious? Read on to find out!
Currently on sale at convenience stores nationwide for 120 yen (US$0.98), these two unusual chip flavours will be hitting supermarket shelves from 1 June.
Opening the packets, we get our first glimpse of our morning meal. While they look like any other potato chip, the aroma’s certainly different. Rather than getting a big hit of salt, these give off a sweet, fruity aroma, more like a packet of gummies.
The banana crisps are covered in the powder of the fruit, giving them a slightly yellow hue. Koikeya, the company behind the unusual snack, prides itself on the fact that this chip variety has the energy-giving equivalent of 3.95 bananas.
The peach crisps, meanwhile, have a slight pink tinge to them and purportedly provide the same amount of energy as 3.73 Japanese-grown peaches. The fruity aroma of both these varieties is surprisingly alluring, even though it’s something we haven’t encountered from a bag of potato chips before.
Unlike more conventionally flavoured crisps, these ones contain unusual recipe ideas on the back of the pack. The suggested recipe for the banana crisps is marshmallow banana toast, drizzled with chocolate sauce.
The peach variety are said to pair nicely with fresh ham, alongside a cream cheese dip.
Having a quick look through the pantry, we found we were totally out of marshmallows and didn’t have any fresh ham or cream cheese. Instead, we decided to whip up a few inventive recipes of our own. We started off with our version of bananas on toast.
The first bite of this was, well, weird. From the look of it, there’s an expectation that this will taste like your regular chip sandwich. But then, the sweet banana flavour hits your tongue and everything gets thrown into disarray.
After a few bites, it becomes clear that this is a surprisingly good combination. The chewy texture of the toast goes well with the crunch of the potato chip, and the banana flavour permeates each mouthful, bringing a distinct sweetness to the bread. We can definitely see this working with marshmallows and chocolate sauce!
For our next course, what could go better with peaches than a bowl of fresh, plain yoghurt?
We decide to go for a ‘chips and dip’ style for this offering. The first bite made us laugh out loud, as the taste was exactly like a delicious peach yoghurt – only crunchy!
▼ Definitely a winner – thumbs up for yoghurt with peach chips!
Now, we’ve had granola with dried fruit before, so why not try them out with their nouveau chip versions?
We crumbled up both varieties of crisps and sprinkled them on top of an unsuspecting bowl of granola.
Adding milk to potato chips is certainly a first, but we had faith that this pairing might just work!
And it’s another surprising winner! The crisps work well as soft layers of fruit flavour, gently seeping out into the milk and making everything delicious. We can’t believe we’re saying this, but chips for breakfast actually works.
The verdict on Koikeya’s new fruit-flavoured potato chips? Strangely delicious! We must admit, we were dubious about this (as you probably still are!) when we started, but thanks to the minimal use of salt and the familiar fruit flavours, these work really well and are seriously pleasing to the palate. The only hurdle to get over is the fact that the product looks like something you’d normally snack on while watching a movie or with a couple of beers rather than your morning coffee.
Despite the unusual combination, these are a great example of the skill of Japanese snack manufacturers, who have an uncanny knack for blending some of the world’s most unassuming flavours. From past experience, these unique chip varieties won’t stay around for long, so get them now while you can!
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