My Starbucks office-mate Tuan recently introduced me to this addictive snack — wasabi-coated green peas. They are a favorite in Thailand and made by a company there, Khao Schong, which is more famous for its instant coffee.
The peas have quite a strong bite, especially after you’ve eaten a handful of them.
Tuan says they are “sort of healthy.” He buys them at the grocery in the shopping center where Penang is located.
CNN’s health site features a quiz that compares portion size and calorie content of typical snacks and meals today with those of 20 years ago. You’ll be amazed at the difference. Go here.
1) Herr’s Steak & Worcestershire Potato Chips: I discovered these a couple of weeks ago and found them to be the kind of treated, flavored potato chips that don’t necessarily taste “good,” but activate your salivary glands so well that there’s no real difference. They’re comparable to mesquite-flavored chips, without the peppery remnants (or tendency to leave your fingers bright-orange) of “barbecue-style.” There’s no mention of actual steak or even “meat” on the ingredients, but it does say “natural flavors (including grill).” Grill flavors: how intriguingly vague! They strike me as good “special occasion” chips for picnic cookouts or beach trips, but maybe not the kind of “everyday use” chips you want to have in the house week in, week out.
Incidentally, the package says “It is hard to pronounce (woos-ter-shir) but so easy to enjoy.” Hey, don’t condescend to ME, bag of chips.
2) Steaz Organic Raspberry Green Tea Soda: A family member recently dropped a few bottles of this by our house, which was fortuitous because it’s very tasty, but I’d be leery of drinking anything called organic green-tea soda. In fact, I wasn’t even aware of the beverage’s green-tea foundation when I drank from my first bottle. I’ve tried the raspberry variety, which is extremely yummy, proving sweet without being adversely syrupy or sugary. According to the label, “We’ve created a revolutionary tea-soda ’steaped’ full of flavor and nutrition.” That so-called “steaping” process must pay off, because it tastes comparable to classic deli-style flavored soda (at least, the kind you can buy in glass bottles).
My only caveat is that after drinking about half a 12-ounce bottle, I noticed a green-tea aftertaste beginning to assert itself. Maybe the bottle needed shaking up, maybe it’s more noticeable when it gets warmer – I don’t know. Green tea isn’t necessarily a bad flavor per se, but it’s a little unexpected and out of place in a sweet, fizzy, refreshing beverage.
