Riska Natto Rice Snacks

Usually when someone mentions the word "acquired taste", it means either, "You might not like it at first, but you'll grow to like it", "It's something you have to grow up with to like", or"You'll never like it how much you'll try it". A few foods fall into the last category; the first food that comes to mind is bitter melon. Many foods fall into the first and second category. Licorice certainly falls into the first category for me. Growing up, I never really liked it, but after high school I liked it more, except for that salted licorice my friends Chris and Brittany gave me. I think something like ume or natto fall into the second category. They're foods that belong to a certain culture and don't really exist outside of them. At first, I tried natto just because of the terrible descriptions people gave it. However, after a while, I kind of like it, or at the very least, I have a higher tolerance to it.


First of all, what is natto, you may be asking. Well, it's basically fermented soybean, and when it gets fermented, it's develops sticky webs not unlike a spider web.The flavor of natto for me is hard to describe. I can easily describe the texture, as it's a bit slimy and sticky. It's like if you ate gel or glue. I guess I could describe the flavor as having a subtle sweetness with hints of bitter. When I opened this bag of snacks, it certainly carried a very strong smell. I wondered if a natto flavored snack would taste a lot like natto or a just a little


A natto rice snack

Well the chip starts off with a sweet flavor, but as you chew, there's definitely some bitter to it. It also tastes like there was a bit of horseradish or wasabi flavoring, but this was not indicated on the ingredients list. After eating a few of these, it does give you the mouth feel of eating natto. The slimy texture that's left behind is one that is very unique. I can say that this snack is certainly not for everyone, and if you have an aversion to natto, you might not like it. Like I said, I haven't really gotten around to liking natto yet, but I am becoming much more tolerant of it.

Riska Natto Rice Snacks: 7/10 (much less if you don't like natto)

Tohato Bokun Habanero Kimuchi Chips

For all the number of cereal mascots there are, I wonder why Chester the Cheetah and the Pringles man are the only mascots representing chips. Of course, I've heard of the Frito Bandito before, but we all know what happened to him (he gave his life in the Battle of Dorito). Anyway, I would think that companies that sell chips would want a mascot to appeal to kids. I guess parents and concerned adults would be against the idea, as it would make chips and unhealthy snacks more appealing to kids, but if Trix Rabbit, Cap'n Crunch, and all the other sugary cereal icons can still exist, why not have more fun characters?


Bokun Habanero, from what I've read, translates into Tyrant Habanero. Imagine having a mascot like that. Imagine Dictator Dorito forcing his people to work on Cool Ranches. Anyway, if you notice at the lower left corner, there is a bowl of kimuchi, which is the Japanese variation of kimchi. At the lower right, there is what seems to be a pepper meter, and this one indicates that this bag of chips is three peppers hot. And dead center, we see a pepper jack-o-lantern.


If someone could translate the picture for me, that would be awesome. I see two peppers side-by-side, with one of them having bright pink lipstick, so I'll assume they're a pepper couple or something of that nature. I have no idea what is going on in the other two pictures at all, so I'm not even going to assume what's going on.


A kimuchi chip

Well, first of all, this was not three peppers hot. This was not even one pepper hot, as I did not detect any spice at all. Maybe this was for kids and the pepper meter thing was just for decoration or fun. The texture is reminiscent of Pop Chips or some other baked potato chip variety. The flavor is slightly sweet, with a definite kimuchi scent. How would I grade this? Well, there are plenty of other American chip varieties I would rather purchase, but none of them, outside of Pringles and Cheetos, offers a pepper tyrant. I don't think I would get these again, unless there was a variety that actually followed the pepper meter.

Tohato Bokun Habanero Kimuchi Chips: 7/10