Salted egg is one of my favouritest things in the whole wide world. I will happily consume all things salted egg. Salted egg pork ribs, salted egg sauce on ice cream and waffles, salted egg lava cakes, salted egg liusha paus, THE ACTUAL SALTED EGG.
I don't know why salted egg chips took so long to get invented. Unlike what it seems, they've not been around for that long. I've only lived a mere 22 years on this Earth BUT I KNOW MY FOOD.
I'm getting too excited.
So I'm a bit late, but in the past year or so, I've noticed Salted Egg chips being a serious thing. Serious enough to be sold at 7-11. Yes MASS MARKET SERIOUS. I mean we've had salted egg fish skin for a while I think, but I've never seen any variation of it sold at 7-11.
I've hunted down three of these Salted Egg Potato Chips to find out which is the best. These chips are quite bloody expensive. Twice as expensive as a regular pack of chips. So better know where to sink that money.
One pack is 130g and costs $7. That means for every $1, you get 18.57g of chips. The cheapest of the three.
KaizoCool is not that cool of a name, quite unfortunately. But they make up for it with the cute packaging. Oh YES THAT SALTED EGG GOLD.
It's a pity that they treat it as literal gold and go so skimpy on the salted egg flavouring. The salted egg flavour is there, but it's really mild. After a few chips, you forget these chips are salted egg flavoured. On the spectrum between chip and salted egg, this one remains quite firmly in the chip territory. It's chips with salted egg flavouring, not salted egg on chips. That's great for the unadventurous chip eater, but if you're spending $7 on chips, you're likely to be a salted egg lover. And I speak on all salted egg lovers of the world, we want salted egg on chips not chips with salted egg flavouring.
Not that it's not delicious. It's still delicious. But on the salted egg intensity level, it performs really poorly compared to the rest.
It's also available at 7-11 so that's +1 for convenience.
The Golden Duck Gourmet Salted Egg Yolk Potato Crisps
One pack is 125g and $7.30. That means for every $1, you get 17.12g of chips. (The lower the number, the more expensive it is.) Which makes this slightly more expensive than KaizoCool.
"Not all snacks are created equal". So true. And the point of this post. :')
The salted egg flavour is definitely present here. It's also a sweeter flavour compared to the other two. That means on a scale of salted egg pork ribs to liusha pau, it's a liusha chip. If I had never tasted Irvins before, this would be the salted egg bomb. If I had a salted egg craving, this is what I would be buying (because Irvins is just so unavailable).
The one thing I don't particularly like about it is that the chip is really thin and flaky, and not that crunchy. I like my chips crunchy. Doesn't everyone?
To note also is that the chips are packed in a tiny packet. So there's not that much air (nitrogen) in it to keep that fresh. Yes, everyone complains about more air than chips in a packet of potato chips, but nitrogen is crucial in keeping potato chips nice and crunchy. Which may be the reason why I find the chips a bit soft.
+1 to The Golden Duck anyway because you can get it at 7-11.
They sell these chips in two sizes. The big pack is 230g and $16. The small pack is 105g and $8. That means for every $1, you get 14.38g of chips in the big pack, and 13.13g of chips in the small pack.
This is the most expensive out of the three. But to be honest, the price difference is something I would be willing to pay for how much more delicious this is.
There's really no competition. Irvins went all out on this. This is way up there on the salted egg intensity scale. The other two have nothing on Irvins. You open the chip bag and the smell hits you immediately. You know it's going to be good. One bite and you're immediately hooked. It makes itself known to every tastebud on your tongue, and makes you wonder at the possibility of salted egg taking over the world.
The salted egg flavour also has more of a kick. It's not as sweet as The Golden Duck, but it's spicier than the other two. The Laksa Leaf flavour is crucial to the salted egg flavour in my humble opinion, and it comes through in Irvins.
I'm slightly bothered every time I type Irvins because it's not Irvin's or Irvins'. But they are still getting all my salted egg allowance. :D
Anyway.
The chip itself is also crunchier and slightly thicker-cut which makes it really enjoyable to eat mindlessly.
"Dangerously Addictive". Indeed. I can confirm.
It's also very difficult to get your hands on one. Which makes it even more of a sought-after commodity. The people behind Irvins are smart. They have limited packs in their physical stores. And sell out around noon. But have online ordering and delivery/pickup. They are also the only salted egg snack company to have a physical store, making themselves a brand. While the others are just products.
Here, you can have all my money now. :')
Here, you can have all my money now. :')
ETA: Relevant. Straits Times posted an article on salted egg snacks right after I posted mine :') I am not late at all to this trend. And where is that Aunty Esther's? They price themselves even higher than Irvins. We have to see if it's really that good!!
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