9/14/05 | Calbee Shrimp Chips
[ Currently Eating: Cobbler (?) Fish Sandwich ]
I’ve been eating Shrimp Chips from Calbee for near 30 years I think. I don’t know how long they’ve been making these, but the packaging has pretty much remained the same over that time… Pink polka dots on white with the gigantic words “Shrimp Flavored Chips” on the front.
Calbee makes a whole host of other Asian type snacks like this, including Veggie, Potato and Sweet Potato chips. I don’t know how common they are where you live but they are pretty much in every supermarket where I am. This is the 10 ounce bag which is definitely more than a couple bucks so it’s not exactly the cheapest thing. But hey, neither are potato chips when you get down to it. They also have smaller bags that cost somewhere from 79 cents to $1.50. [Edit: This particular 10 ounce bag was actually $1.99 which wasn’t as bad as I thought.]
The chips themselves aren’t round, but have been extruded in the shape of twisted, ridged “twigs”. In case you are wondering, here is how they describe them on the back of the package:
“A toasted light snack, with a touch of shrimp”
A delectable new snack made with tidbits of shrimp, wheat flour and pure vegetable oil blended together and toasted to a golden crispy crunch.
Amazingly, there actually IS shrimp in the chips themselves according to the ingredients although I don’t want to hazard a guess as to which parts are ground up in here.
The shrimp chips themselves are extremely crunchy (provided you open a fresh bag) and do indeed have an approximate “seafood” flavor. Here is a warning to those who haven’t yet experienced this yet. Do not open this bag and wave it around people with really sensitive noses, for they will pass out. Especially if they haven’t had ethnic chips like this before and aren’t used to the smells.
As with many “stinky foods”, these are extremely addictive once you get started eating them (perhaps something to do with the MSG) but you don’t want to sit there an huff in the fumes from the bag. If you open a bag you can usually smell them halfway across the room, and it ain’t like flowers. So I usually take a handful out and put it in a bowl and then seal up the package tight. This is also good because it helps keep them crunchy.
I would give Shrimp Flavored Chips a higher score but they are actually pretty pricey. They are delicious though, and we can easily polish off a bag in a few hours.
Cheap Eats Score: 5/10
September 14th, 2005 at 2:00 pm
I love shrimp chips, but until you I had yet to find someone - not my mom - that likes them too! Yay! I’m not alone. I like the sweet potato ones as well. I seem to equate the shrimp chips with this really salty prune candy. I’m not sure why.
September 14th, 2005 at 4:42 pm
So there are dehydrated bits of shrimp in an “extruded” twist and they smell “stinky” and aren’t cheap? I gotta tell you, I haven’t seen these on the East coast and dehydrated shrimp bits don’t sound all that delectable. How about a Marvo like contest to see who will win these?
September 14th, 2005 at 6:03 pm
bingsy - i actually know a ton of people who like them too…
aaron - well, just like anything else what doesn’t smell good isn’t necessarily bad tasting. Let’s take cheese for instance. I mean Provolone is great in a sandwich but on it’s own, have you ever smelled it? It smells like ass. And it’s not cheap, costs more than shrimp chips, and it’s made out of coagulated animal liquids that are basically rotting. And there’s a lot worse smelling cheeses than Provolone. But don’t get me wrong - I really like cheese!
September 15th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
True some cheese does stink.. Doritos smell like stinky feet but I like them.
September 15th, 2005 at 5:44 pm
oh man you are right about Doritos. I like them a lot, but a friend once said Doritos smell like socks… that is just too delicious…
September 16th, 2005 at 1:47 am
Here in Hawaii, we have another type of shrimp chips, in which each bag has a variety of colored chips. Most of them are white, but there are pink, orange, and other colored chips as well. Very good.
September 17th, 2005 at 1:19 am
Ever take a good whiff of a freshly opened bag o cheetos? I recently aquired 1 of them industrial size “snack packs” of Lays chips and such. I read the comments above and thought about cheetos. I opened a fresh bag and took me a big ol bong huff. I woke up 2 hrs later and there was a hampster sitting next to me. I dont own a hampster.
September 17th, 2005 at 11:00 am
marvo - I’ve had those shrimp chips before! Those are really good, and if I remember correctly are less stanky. Man if you want to talk about smelly, what about dried cuttlefish…
shawn - hamsters and bongs!!?
October 1st, 2005 at 3:13 pm
What’s a hampster? I’ve heard of hamsters, but, not hamPsters. LOL Seriously, I would really like to know where I can purchase a bag of those chips. I’ve ate them one time a couple of years ago and thought they were awesome, but, don’t know where I can buy them. I’m in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If anybody knows, let me know.
November 23rd, 2005 at 4:30 pm
For all of you who love Calbee Shrimp favor, here is the website who has them.The price is very reasonable only $1.99. Plus, This website has snack from japan as well. Check it out.
Dan
September 20th, 2006 at 2:43 pm
I had these critters when I was stationed on Okinawa in the ’70s; they actually smelled better than some of the streets back then! Crackin’ open a bagful of Shrimp Chips (”Shrimpies” was what I called them back then) between scuba dives or parachute jumps was just the thing—light, yet strangely stinky. I still love ‘em to this day and whenever I smell the ’stagnant seashore’ aroma of them I think of days back on Okinawa…
December 16th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
I have been eating Shrimp Flavored Chips for about 20 years now. The first time I came to know them was with a little Vietnamese friend that I had. I accompanied them to China Town in Seattle and they bought a bag. I do remember them smelling quite strong, not being used to those asian flavors, but loved them the first time I tried them. I don’t notice the smell anymore which is probably due to the fact that we do a ton of asian cooking at home, using fish sauce, squid, oyster sauce, etc. so I think it’s just another aroma for us. I love Kim Chee and if you can get used to that smell, you can handle anything. Shrimp Flavored Chips are a great product! Funny on the back of the package it says, “A delectable new snack…”. There’s nothing new about it!! You think Calbee could spend a buck or two and get the packaging changed by now, but….who knows? Again, an excellent product, baked not fried! Does contain MSG which is supposed to be bad for you but we’ve never had a problem with it in my family and do in fact use it quite a bit in our asian cooking. If I grow a third ear I’ll let you all know. LOL. And for any of you looking for this chips, just look for a local asian store. They all carry them…Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese. This product has saturated the market and all asians love em.
August 6th, 2007 at 7:57 am
Mmm…Shrimp Flavored Chips. I’m actually sitting here in my office at my desk devouring a 10 oz. bag of the lil suckers as I type. They’re dirt cheap up here in Chicago, this bag ringing in at a mere $2.29 before our million-percent sales tax. The very first time I tried these delectible lil baked fries was at a really big asian food market in the NW-ish suburbs along with some bubble-gum tasting soda from Japan called Ramune.
Though they stink (yes, a coworker has commented), the flavor is light, so it doesn’t make your breath TOO rank, and the crunch is a good diversion from the horrors of actually working. It’s sort of sad when you sit there chewing on each chip and trying to make it crunch as many times as possible before swallowing.
My husband isn’t particularly fond of them, though he HAS admitted that they taste much more bearable than their ‘fragrance.’ My friend who raided our kitchen in the middle of the night braved the stink and is now obsessed to the point I have to take the bag to work with me in order to get any.
Warning to all those gathering the courage to try them: They’re addictive and delicious. I will be the first to admit I pair them with odd items:
Shrimp Chips + Chocolate Pocky + Ramune + Rice Crispies Treats = Heaven.
And no, I’m not pregnant…yet.