Bottom Line: The Lay’s Numb & Spicy Hot Pot Chips will not numb your mouth from the heat, and they have an unusual flavor, but I rather enjoyed them.
Walk into any store selling snack items and you will quite a large selection of chips on the shelves, many of which deliver a kick. But the fact is that these represent a fraction of what you can find around the world and there are some pretty crazy flavors out there. (Anybody for some Whisky & Haggis or Seafood & Octopus chips?) I recently visited the Asian market while in Houston and found a couple of interesting flavors, and World Market has been adding some to their shelves as well. Here are my thoughts on three of those the lean to the spicy side:
Lay’s Numb & Spicy Hot Pot: These are ridged chips so they deliver a good crunch and really pick up the seasoning. They have that somewhat funky Asian seasoning taste that delivers savory, sweet, and umami. But it is the fennel that really stands out. I thought it was basil at first and it would make sense because that herb is common in Asian cuisine, and it delivered a similar sort of fragrant flavor. That will be a make-or-break for a lot of people, but I liked it and found the chips to be rather addictive.
As for the heat, after the first couple of bites, there does not seem to be any burn coming from these chips. But as you continue munching the spiciness starts to emerge and make itself known. Before you realize it, your mouth is tingling and it definitely lingers. It’s not a numbing heat as the bag suggests, but I would put them above Medium on my scale and you feel the burn throughout your mouth as well as on your lips. These chips are definitely a full-on experience, and if you can deal with the atypical flavor profile, they prove quite good. I found these at World Market and they have a few other international varieties of chips available in addition to these. (Like BBQ Squid. No, really.)
BINGGRAE Blue Crab Snack Wasabi Chips: As I have said before, there are several types of heat, one of which delivers that horseradish/wasabi burn and these chips target that market. They come from the European company NikanKitchen which makes Japanese and Korean-inspired foods. The crackers are crab-shaped and very light and crispy, sort of like Rice Crispies cereal. They have a very notable seafood taste which makes sense seeing as pollack extract, crab extract, and shrimp extract show up in the ingredients, and flavoring of that type is not uncommon in Asian snacks. This may be a little off-putting to American tastes, but the seafood flavor did not overwhelm and I enjoyed them.
The chips have a very good wasabi taste that should satisfy anybody who likes that condiment. There is not too much of the horseradish heat, just a little bit of a kick as you bite into each one. You rarely feel it in your nose when munching on these like you would from a good blast of wasabi. But they do deliver on the flavor and they are quite addicting. And as a plus, they are relatively low in sodium and calories for a snack like this. They do have a bit of a fishy aftertaste, but that was not a deal-breaker for me. You can probably find these in most Asian markets.
BINGGRAE Hot and Spicy Seafood Crab Chips: These also have that seafood flavor, leaning towards the crab in the title, but just fishy in general. They have a little bit of savory taste and a little bit of sweetness, and the seasoning reminds me of sriracha or other Asian chili sauces. They are light and crunchy and very addicting. They seem to have no heat at first, but then you feel it in the back of your throat and eventually in your mouth as well. They never get too hot, though, maybe a little above Mild on my scale. Of the two BINGGRAE varieties I tried, I preferred the Wasabi, but I would buy these again.
Nutrition Info:
Lay’s Numb & Spicy Hot Pot Chips
Ingredients: Potato, palm oil, spicy hot pot seasoning (sugar, msg, soysauce, maltodextrin, salt, artificial flavors, soybean, garlic chili, onion, sesame, sichuan pepper, fennel, silicon dioxide, spices, paprika & paprika oleoresin, disodium 5 ribonucleotide, aspartame)
Serving Size: 35g
Calories: 189
Fat: 11g (5g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 1g
Carbs: 18g
Sodium: 180mg
BINGGRAE Blue Crab Snack Wasabi Flavor
Ingredients: Wheat flour, palm olleinyu, sunflower oil, corn starch, wasabi seasoning, sugar, pollack extract, crab extract, shrimp extract, vital gluten, carthamus yellow, gardenia blue, salt, garlic powder, l-sodium glutamate, combined congener.
Serving Size: 1.06 oz
Calories: 70
Fat: 3.5g (1.5g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 1g
Carbs: 8g
Sodium: 100mg
BINGGRAE Hot and Spicy Seafood Crab Snack
Ingredients: Wheat flour, vegetable oil (palm olleinyu, sunflower oil, d-tocopehral), corn starch, spicy soup seasoning (soybeans, milk, tomato), seasoning base powder, sugar, pollack extract, crab extract, shrimp extract, squid extract, vital gluten, food coloring (paprika extract) leavening agent, salt, dried garlic powder
Serving Size: 1.06 oz
Calories: 70
Fat: 4g (1.5g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 1g
Carbs: 8g
Sodium: 100mg