In the United States, tried-and-true flavors like sour cream and onion, barbecue, and even just the good old kettle-cooked potato chip will always have a place in our hearts and cupboards. But even the foods we love the most can get boring when eaten too often. One of the fun aspects of traveling to other parts of the world — especially Japan — is finding snacks in flavors that you might never have imagined! Hugely successful snack brands like Pringles and Lay’s have achieved such success because they cater to the unique tastes of every country.
Today, more people are seeking adventurous snacking experiences than ever before. So-called exotic snack shops — although it’s not a term I particularly prefer — are popping up left and right in the U.S. The Chicago Tribune writes that the search term “international snacks” doubled in just a two-year period. And as fondness for Japanese pop culture grows, the focus is increasingly on Japanese snacks, and Asian snacks more generally. Japanese snack box companies like Bokksu and TokyoTreat are gaining momentum, and there seems to be a new Japanese snack shop in my local malls every time I visit!
The potato chip is especially well-suited to conveying all manner of flavors. When it comes to Japanese chips, what ingredients are you most likely to run into? Which styles and brands are must-haves? Let’s take a look at the fascinating world of Japanese chips, and which sake we’d recommend for the perfect pairing.
What makes Japanese chips different?
Every culture’s cuisine, from potato chips to dishes served at Michelin-starred establishments, is informed by the ingredients that are most abundant and easily accessible. For the island nation of Japan, that’s a lot of seafood! You’ll also find popular Japanese condiments turned into chip flavors, and even some everyday ingredients in the West that surprisingly don’t appear on most U.S. supermarket shelves in chip form. Try them all to find your favorite Japanese chip flavor!
Calbee JagaRico
Spoiler alert: Calbee is a brand you are going to see a lot of, as it is Asia’s biggest potato chip brand, and makes up 12% of the region’s market. That’s second only to PepsiCo’s 24%, which includes Doritos, Cheetos, Lay’s and other American giants.
Technically speaking, Calbee’s JagaRico products are potato sticks and not chips, but let’s not split spuds. Not only do they provide a satisfying crunch, but they’re also irresistibly crispy. The original flavor is salad, which may sound odd to an American ear, but think of it like a veggie stick made primarily of potato and infused with bits of carrot and parsley. Other flavors of Calbee JagaRico include Hokkaido butter, double cheese and more. Try Tippsy’s Calbee JagaRico Trio for a fun sampler!
Most sake pair very well with salty and savory snacks, so it’s difficult to pick just one. But if you want to embrace Japanese pop culture while you’re at it, try Daina “Beyond the Wall” Eren Label. It’s a collaboration sake between Kikunosato Brewing Company and the wildly famous “Attack on Titan” manga and anime. This junmai ginjo works well with all kinds of foods, from meat to veggies.
Calbee Potato Chips: Setouchi Lemon Flavor
Take your taste buds on a journey south to the coastal regions surrounding Japan’s Seto Inland Sea. The prefectures of Hyogo, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Kagawa and Ehime make up what is known as the Setouchi region. The climate is ideal for growing citrus fruits like the desirable Setouchi lemon, which Calbee has transformed into potato chips!
While still sour, the Setouchi lemon is known for its sweetness compared to other types of lemon. These chips convey this lemon’s characteristic juiciness, complemented by a touch of black pepper. It’s only in recent years that lime was introduced as a chip flavor in the U.S., like Lay’s Kettle Cooked Lime & Cracked Pepper and Lay’s Chile Limón. But lemon-flavored potato chips haven’t quite broken through yet. At the time of this article’s publication, the only places to find chips like Calbee Potato Chips: Setouchi Lemon Flavor are Asian groceries and specialty snack shops like Tippsy Marketplace.
If citrus-forward foods and drinks are your jam, turn up the flavor with yuzu sake like Sakari “no. 21” Yuzu. Produced in Hyogo prefecture, this sake is made with a base of Nihonsakari’s junmai sake, combined with yuzu from Kochi and Kagoshima. Every part of the fruit is used, from the flesh to the peel.
Calbee Kappa Ebisen Shrimp Chips: Salt and Wasabi Flavor
I’ve been a vegetarian for many years, but as a child, Japanese shrimp chips were the first foreign chip I ever tried — and they absolutely blew my mind. I grew up in a town with a significant Asian population, and this was a snack I frequently encountered. Why? Because Calbee’s rectangular, ridged shrimp chips with their savory, mouthwatering taste are simply iconic.
Calbee’s baked shrimp chips were first produced in Japan in 1964, and debuted in the United States just three years later at the international Fancy Food Show expo in New York. While the original flavor is of course a must-try, Calbee also has other varieties, such as Calbee Kappa Ebisen Shrimp Chips: Salt and Wasabi Flavor. The wasabi adds a pleasurable heat to the rich shrimp flavor, so if you’re looking for sake to go with it, choose a nigori that can tamp down the spiciness. Kurosawa “Nigori,” with its creamy mouthfeel and sweet notes of melon, is a customer favorite!
Scone: Quattro Cheese Flavor
Simply put, these Japanese cheese puffs are like slightly classier Cheetos. Both Scone Quattro Cheese and Cheetos are wonky-shaped corn snacks coated with cheese powder. The American snack’s original flavor goes heavy on the cheddar cheese. These Scone Quattro Cheese snacks have cheddar too, but also Gouda, Camembert and mozzarella flavors.
For a cheese party like this, reach for sake with a bit more personality, like a kimoto or a yamahai. Sake brewed with these more traditional methods, which utilize ambient lactic acid bacteria from the environment, tend to have bolder or funkier flavor profiles. Try pairing Scone Quattro Cheese Flavor with Yuho “Rhythm of the Centuries,” a kimoto junmai that’s been aged for four years. It’s a rich, earthy sake balanced by fruity notes of orange and banana. Mioya Brewing Company President Miho Fujita and her “toji” (brewmaster) create sake to go with food they love to eat; in the case of this sake, they had pork and cheese in mind.
Glico Natural Cheese Cheeza: Cheddar Cheese Flavor
We often assume that any delicious snack — especially a cheese snack — is a guilty pleasure and a diet-breaker. But Glico Natural Cheese Cheeza, a Japanese baked cheese snack, doesn’t have to be relegated to your cheat days; each small bag is a single serving equalling just 190 calories!
Similar to ParmCrisps or Whisps Cheese Crisps, these small, wafer-thin cheese wedges are loaded with intense cheese flavor. A touch of onion seasoning adds more richness to Glico Natural Cheese Cheeza: Cheddar Cheese Flavor. Glico also produces other flavors, including Camembert and black pepper. For an even more freshly baked taste, the company recommends wrapping the cheese crisps in foil and placing them in the toaster oven for a few minutes.
While you can definitely sip sake like the aforementioned Yuho “Rhythm of the Centuries,” or another similarly brewed sake like Yano “Umami” Aged Kimoto Junmai, a full-bodied red wine is also a natural pairing.
Sakusaku Noriten Original Flavored Seaweed Tempura
Seaweed is a staple in Japanese cuisine, featured in everything from sushi to soup. There are many different kinds, like the nori seaweed used to wrap onigiri, and the kombu seaweed used as onigiri filling. As a kid, many of my friends would have snack packs of perfectly salted, dried seaweed sheets in their lunches — and I would always snag a couple. Another Japanese seaweed snack for which I’ve become a fiend is noriten.
Noriten, compounded from the words “nori” and “tempura,” are seaweed chips that have been fried with tempura batter for an irresistibly crunchy and salty bite. You can find various versions, such as Sakusaku Noriten Original and Sakusaku Noriten Wasabi, at Tippsy Marketplace and other Asian groceries or snack shops.
A sweet yet tart “umeshu” (plum wine) like Tozai “Blossom of Peace” is an excellent partner for Japanese seaweed snacks, as it balances out the pronounced saltiness of the food. (In fact, pickled ume is a popular onigiri filling!) Tippsy offers an extensive collection of umeshu, so go find your favorite.
Crispy Noriten with Momoya’s Kimchi Flavor
This Japanese snack is a unique hybrid of noriten tempura seaweed crisps and Momoya’s beloved kimchi seasoning. The Tokyo-based company has been in business since 1920, producing fermented foods and condiments such as chili oil, fermented bamboo shoots, and Kimuchi no Moto kimchi base. Kimchi is of course a Korean food, but this kimchi base is made by a Japanese company, and seafood flavorings have been added for more umami.
Kimchi delivers heat from peppers and garlic, as well as some tang from the fermentation process. A “doburoku” (unfiltered sake) like Niwa no Uguisu “Doburoku” would be a fun sake pairing for these kimchi-flavored seaweed chips for two reasons: First, because its creaminess will calm the spice; second, sake is also a fermented beverage, and the unfiltered nature of doburoku makes that same tangy quality more pronounced.
Sunada Sakutto Ikaten: Habanero Flavor (Squid Tempura)
As we’ve seen, Japanese chips aren’t just about potatoes. If you’re looking for something meatier than a seaweed snack, there are plenty of dried seafood options. Like noriten, ikaten is a snack made by deep-frying squid (“ika”) in tempura batter. Each piece of squid is meticulously stretched and grilled before being battered and cooked. It’s like a dry, crunchy version of your favorite Japanese restaurant’s seafood tempura!
Sunada Sakutto makes an original flavor seasoned with Akou salt, as well as a habanero flavor. Whichever direction you choose, Suigei “Harmony” is a fabulous sake to sip while you enjoy your treat. Suigei Brewing Company is known for its approachable, food-friendly sake. Their “Harmony” junmai daiginjo is especially juicy with a taste of fleshy mango, which makes up for some of the moisture that was lost when the squid was grilled and fried.
Calbee Potato Chips: Shiawase Butter
If someone asked, “Would you like some happy butter chips?”, who in their right mind would say no? “Shiawase” means “happy,” and these sweet and savory Calbee potato chips combine flavors of honey, butter and cheese in a way that will elicit that emotion with every bite. Lay’s also released a honey butter flavor, but you may be hard-pressed to find it in American grocery stores. Conversely, butter potato chips are ubiquitous in Japan.
Because Calbee Potato Chips: Shiawase Butter are already so indulgent, a light-tasting sake would be the best match. Try pairing this snack with Tippsy bestseller Kizakura “Hana Kizakura,” a smooth, mildly sweet junmai ginjo with a cherry blossom aroma.
Calbee Potato Chips: Pizza Flavor
Photo by Rina Liggett
Japan has really embraced a love of pizza over the last few decades, sometimes staying faithful to the classic Neapolitan pizza, and sometimes veering off into more locally familiar ingredients that would give a traditionalist a heart attack, like mayonnaise and corn. Calbee Pizza Chips are ridged potato chips that stick to old-school tomato and cheese flavors, including cheddar and even Swiss. Try them side by side with pizza-flavored Pringles and see if you can taste a difference!
The uninitiated may think sake and pizza an odd combination — even if they are Japanese pizza chips — but think again! Tippsy actually worked with a New York City pizza shop, Unregular Pizza, on the perfect sake pairing for their Roman-style pizza: Akabu “Junmai Ginjo.” This light, juicy, apple-forward sake is a match made in midtown for pizza’s melted cheese and sweet yet robust tomato sauce.
What about Japanese Lay’s and Doritos?
Lay’s flavors from around the world, including roasted fish-flavored potato chips
At this point, if you can dream of a chip flavor, it probably exists somewhere in the world. Some Japanese-inspired Lay’s include Lay’s Kobe Steak, Lay’s Tokyo Yakitori Chicken and Lay's Kyushu Seaweed. One can also find Doritos Wasabi and Doritos Shrimp Mayonnaise in Japan, among others. Some of these can be ordered online, but others are limited-time only, so you’ll just have to go to Japan!
Adventure is out there
When traveling the world, major tourist sites and gourmet restaurants are always on the agenda, but don’t forget about the small, everyday aspects of culture that can be found just by walking into a convenience store. Japan’s “konbini” are a feast for the eyes and the stomach. And with an increasingly global economy, the ease of online shopping, as well as international mergers and acquisitions — like Japan-style 7-Elevens coming to America — adventurous snacking is becoming as simple as walking out your front door.
Shop authentic Japanese snacks at Tippsy Marketplace, and be sure to pair them with sake from Tippsy Sake!
References
Ahmad, S. “Lobster Lay’s and mojito 7UP: International snack shops are booming in Chicagoland.” Chicago Tribune, 2023.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/08/10/lobster-lays-and-mojito-7up-international-snack-shops-are-booming-in-chicagoland/
“Discover Setouchi.” The Inland Sea, SETOUCHI Tourism Authority.
https://www.setouchi.travel/en/travel-trade-media/discover-setouchi/
Momoya Co, Ltd.
https://www.momoya.co.jp/en/
Ponthieux, T. “15 Exclusive Flavors of Doritos You Can Only Get in Japan.” Suigoi Mart, 2022.
https://sugoimart.com/blogs/sugoi-mart-blog/15-exclusive-flavors-of-doritos-you-can-only-get-in-japan
Toh, M. “What Asia’s top potato chip maker learned from a huge supply shortage.” CNN, 2023.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/04/business/japan-calbee-potato-shortage-climate-intl-hnk/index.html
Trinh, J. “Calbee Shrimp Chips have a cult following. Here’s how it happened.” LA Times, 2021.
https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2021-09-05/calbees-shrimp-chips-have-a-cult-following-heres-how-it-happened
