12.1.15

Rock'n' Winter, Doritos Style

As anyone who has read any of my blog entries before knows, Japan has crazy versions of well-known Western foods. (They also have crazy versions of food not sold in Western countries, but that is for another time.) If you have never read my blog before, you may already know of these crazy flavors that sometimes exist, because, you know, the internet. If you had no idea that Japan did this, prepare to have your eyes opened!

The Japanese branch of Frito-Lay loves to do crazy things, such as Pepsi flavored corn puffs. I'm sure more special, magical flavors of snacks exist than I can even pretend to guess at. However, sometimes I come across such glorious things in my little piece of the Japanese countryside, and then I get to share them with you! How lucky is that!

One of Frito-Lay's biggest sellers here is Doritos. Now, while Doritos may be easy to find in any store in America, they can be hit or miss here in Japan, (at least where I live,) and are usually only sold in 2 flavors, Tacos, and Nacho Cheese.

Would you like your corn chips with fake cheese flavoring, or spicy fake cheese flavoring?

Now, that is not to say those are the only flavors in existence, far from it. Those are just the flavors that seem readily available year round. I used to see "corn flavored" Doritos, also know as a normal corn chip with no powder flavoring, but I haven't been able to find those lately. Which is really too bad, as they were my favorite flavor, (or lack there of. I find I don't like nasty artificial powders getting involved with my salsa or guacamole.) In addition to these main flavors, there are limited time and regional flavors available if you know where to look. Or, in my case, someone else finds them for you.

Just in time for the winter holidays, Frito-Lay released a special limited time flavor of Doritos. They are cute! They are shaped like little pine trees! They are green!

Behold! It's a Christmas miracle!

Best of all, they are Corn Cream Stew flavored. Introducing, for a very limited time only in Japan, Doritos Rock'n' White Corn Cream Stew tortilla chips. How's that for a name. What's that? You didn't know you wanted your slightly Mexican inspired snack food to taste like a heavy winter meal? How could you not?! The flavoring powder is even white, so it will look like snow on the trees!

Can you see the "snow"?

Now, I'm not sure what corn cream stew, or any stew for that matter, has to do with tortilla chips or any winter holiday really. Perhaps the Japanese people truly appreciate a good, artificial stew flavor. (See previous post about stew flavored ice pops.) That being said, the shape alone is pretty adorable. My friend bought these for his Christmas party, so we all got to try them.

Taste wise, it's amazing how much these taste like corn cream stew. If you were blind folded, you may possibly think it's actually stew, except for the texture. It's not creamy like a stew. It's crunchy like a chip. (There's an idea, let's go confuse all the blind people of the world. No really, let's not. That's mean.) It's a salty flavor, but it's not over kill, just slightly salt happy. Once the powder is gone, it immediately reverts back to tasting like a normal corn chip. I thought the after taste was rather "meh." It's not horrible, but tangy in an unpleasant manner. That being said, they seem to have the same magic as other strange flavored snack foods, that once you finish eating it, you immediately want another one, even though you didn't particularly love it as you ate it.

Of the other party goers, 3 other people tried the chips in my presence. Joe and Matt both liked them. They thought the flavor was accurate, just like corn cream stew. Matt enjoyed them for the shape, and thought they were good for novelty value, but probably wouldn't purchase them again. Joe would buy them again if he had the chance. Ken hated them. He thought they were bland and "not good." Personally, I agree with Matt the most. They were interesting, they weren't disgusting, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat them again.

They seem to want to set you on fire. Beware of the Doritos!