Pop-Smile Popcorn from Taiwan

Yes, I love snacks, I love popcorn, I love trying unique things from around the world.  Like, Pop-Smile popcorn, from Taiwan.  Have I been to Taiwan?  Nope.  But our monthly snack box subscription featured exactly one item from Pop-Smile, and I was thrilled to try it.

"Established in 2006, Taiwan Smile Food has became one of leading manufacturer in Asia.  By using premium raw materials and non-GMO corn, we have already developed nearby 100 irresistible flavors and export to worldwide customers."

Taiwan Smile Foods carries products under their own brand, Pop-Smile, but they also produce for private labels, including even 7-11 and Costco in Taiwan.

Bagged Popcorn.

Our item was a signature item from Pop-Smile: pocorn!

Pop-Smile produces popcorn in a variety of formats, such as big buckets, boxes, stand up bags, standard bags, and even individual cups.  They make oil popped and air popped varieties.    They carry common flavors like salted, butter, caramel, cheddar, and kettle.  Slight interesting sweet options like chocolate, strawberry, or hazelnut chocolate.  Savory such as seaweed, chili cheese, sour cream & onion, hot & spicy.  Premium options like Peanut Butter Chocolate, White Chocolate with Strawberry Sprinkle, Caramel Pretzel, Rocky Road, and Salted Caramel.  And then ... unique flavors such as cafe latte or caramel macchiato, banana, grape, or mango, coconut milk, sesame milk, or bubble tea, and ... um kimchi, wasabi, tomato, tom yam, curry, corn soup, garlic shrimp .... I think you get my point.

Um, yeah.  Milk tea popcorn?  Tom yam popcorn?  I was fascinated.  Our box had a pretty fascinating flavor picked out for us: Sweet Egg Yolk, provided in a little bag.

I couldn't wait to try it.

Sweet Egg Yolk Flavored Popcorn.

Egg yolk, as a sweet item, is mostly known to us in the US only as a base for custards and rich pudding or ice cream, not as the featured core flavor.  But in Asian countries, egg yolk shows up in  many more forms, such as the places I've seen it before, inside moon cakes.  But on popcorn?  This was a first for me.

It was really, really unique.  Certainly not "eggy", but it did taste strongly of egg yolk, like shaved, cured egg yolk I've had on top of dishes at higher end restaurants trying to innovate.  It was fascinating.  

The kernels were really well coated, sooo much flavor to them.  They were savory, but also quite sweet, as sugar is the third ingredient, after the corn itself, and oil is is popped in.  They also had a cheese power and soy sauce in the coating, adding to the savory element, and MSG to keep me going back for more.

I think I really liked this.  We needed a bigger bag!