31 Days of Halloween: Potato Cheeseburger?

As far as starches go, rice is still number one in Japan. But even this country knows rice cakes just aren't that tasty of a snack. Sure, you can have senbei, which are similar to rice cakes (but oh so much better) but if you want flavor that involves something more than soy sauce you have to leave the traditional snacks aisle and find the massive potato chip section.

Sure, you can find the usual salty, oily potato chips just like Lay's makes back in the States. But it's the random flavors that really stand out. If you look back through my posts, you'll see some interesting Doritos flavors, and I've seen plenty of other chips with really exotic flavors - at least for my tastes. Most chips are potato here - there are a few corn snacks but I think corn is fairly expensive to import. The cheapest bags of tortilla chips are about $3-4 each, a sad truth for someone who loves salsa and nachos.

But that's for another day. Let's look at a couple small packages with "Potato Fry" snacks!

Yes, potato fry. French fries are called fried potatoes here, and switching the words around means you end up with something that's almost a potato chip. You see butter flavor on the left, and cheeseburger on the right.

Which one is which? Inside each package are four large round chips. They're just a little thicker than potato chips, and much larger. I'd say they're about four inches in diameter.

The flavors for both are noticeable, and pretty accurate. The butter flavored chips taste like a baked potato. The cheeseburger flavor tastes like a cheeseburger - meat, cheese, tomato, lettuce, and even some spice that tastes like a burger sauce.

At about 30 yen each, they're an inexpensive way to have a snack. You won't fill yourself up on one or even three or four, but for kids it's a nice way to tide them over until dinner. And at this price, they're an easy thing to toss into a trick-or-treat bag!