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New “wet” potato chips revolutionise the snack industry in Japan

Oona McGee Apr 25, 2022
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Not in Japan to try them? We’ve got you covered with a hack to make wet chips at home, no matter where you are in the world!

Japanese snack companies are always looking for new and exciting ways to tantalise our taste buds. Now, the country’s leading potato chip maker, Calbee, is changing the game entirely by taking the crunch out of their potato chips, with a new product called “Nure Jaga“, which translates to “Wet Potato“.

As the name suggests, the new chips are moist — a word not often used to describe potato chips — and they appear to take their inspiration from “Nure Senbei“, a type of moist senbei (“rice cracker”) that’s been sold by a variety of Japanese confectioners since 1963.

Initially, Calbee’s wet potato chips were sold exclusively at the company’s Calbee + stores, which stock their most innovative products. As of April, however, they’ve expanded sales by making them available at 7-Eleven stores nationwide.

▼ The Nure Jaga Sweet and Spicy Soy Sauce Flavour retails for 151 yen (US$1.18)

Not all stores stock them, though, and at some places they’ve already sold out, so our reporter K. Masami had to stop by a few 7-Elevens before she was able to get her hands on a pack.

She was excited to try her first-ever wet potato chip, and when she released the snacks from their bag, she was immediately drawn to their beautiful aroma and appearance.

Holding one of these chips will immediately make your fingers sticky, as they really are moist to the touch. They reminded Masami of wet senbei, as they have the same wet soy sauce-slathered coating, but these were much thinner, still retaining the look of a chip.

Biting into one, she found that it was soft and juicy on the outside and crispy on the inside — it was unlike any other potato chip she’s ever tasted.

As she ate her way through the bag, she felt that this revolutionary new chip texture was one that everyone around the world ought to be able to enjoy.

That’s when she got the idea to try and make some wet chips herself, using the same basic method of dousing the chips in a sweet soy sauce.

So she got out a pack of plain Calbee potato chips (made with “春” or “spring” potatoes)…

…and got to work on crafting a flavourful soy sauce, gently heating sake, soy sauce and sugar together, at a ratio of 1: 2: 2.

Then she simply poured a ladle of the warm sauce over the potato chips, leaving it to soak for a few minutes and mixing occasionally with a pair of chopsticks to ensure an even coating.

After that, she popped the bowl of chips and sauce in the microwave for about eight seconds to meld and soften further.

After their short stint in the microwave, the soy-sauce soaked chips glistened beautifully in the light.

Comparing them next to each other, Masami could see that the chips she made, on the left in the image below, weren’t quite as soft and professional-looking as the Nure Jaga, on the right.

Still, they looked pretty similar, and the ones she made had totally transformed from the plain white chips they were before. All she had to do now was take a bite to see how they tasted.

To her great surprise, these homemade wet chips were remarkably similar to the ones she bought at the store! The result was far better than she’d expected, and now she’s made them once, she’ll definitely be making them again and again.

Though Masami couldn’t deny that Calbee had a slight edge on her homemade chips, what with their big machines and creative teams and all, this recipe to recreate them will give you a good sense of what they’re like if you’re outside of Japan and unable to buy a pack.

Plus, this hack is just waiting for someone to take it viral on TikTok, where the hunger for weird and unusual snacks like this is never-ending.

Just remember to tag us when you introduce the world to the wonders of the wet potato chip, and if you’re looking for more unusual recipes from Japan to make you TikTok famous, there’s plenty more where this came from!

Related: 7-Eleven
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[ Read in Japanese ]