Nongshim Snacks

Snacks, snacks, snacks.  I kinda love snacks.  I'm an avid snacker, all day, every day.  Sweet, salty, savory, spicy, yes, yes, yes.  All the snacks.  Generally, the crunchier the better.

I also love travel, and adore trying snacks from all over the world.  I'm the kind of tourist who brings an extra suitcase to load up on items abroad - no, not souvenirs for family, nothing like that, I'm there going to the convenience stores and grocery stores, and stocking up on all the fun looking snacks.  Rather than go to a museum or lay on the beach, I'm the tourist wandering the aisles of the corner store, with Google translate open on my phone as needed, to discover all the novel-to-me items.

Which brings me to Nongshim, a South Korean snack food manufacturer popular around Asia (and yes, they do distribute to the US as well).  They have a massive product portfolio, including snacks, beverages, and of course, their most well known item: instant ramen.  They have 40+ different *brands* of ramen under their umbrella, and completely dominate the market.  But I was most interested in the snacks, generally the rice or wheat based items.

Cuttlefish Snack.

"CUTTLEFISH SNACK has nutritive cuttlefish as its ingredient.  The plain and savory flavor of grilled cuttlefish is preserved.  The snack is a delight to see as its contents are shaped like cuttlefish and a pleasure to eat as well."

"Our Cuttlefish Snack is a delightful snack with its chips shaped like cuttlefish. Made of cuttlefish, the unique and savory flavors are perfectly preserved, allowing one to fully emerge in the taste."

Um, these are addicting.  The flavor, the texture, all of it.  Love them.

Super crispy, yet light and airy too.  And fairly greasy - they taste legit fried, even though a packaged snack.  Very savory, but with a slight sweetness, and great salt level.  And definitely fishy.  If you don't like fishy flavors, don't go near these.  There is real cuttlefish (minced and extract), along with anchovy extract too.  Plus a slew of savory vegetable extracts (red radish, purple sweet potato, mushroom, onion, kelp), and of course sweet things (molasses extract, sugar, dextrose), and some random things like cacao extract (why?), and a long list of other preservatives, dairy ingredients, and more.  Certainly not wholesome.  But so delicious, even if reading the ingredient list makes you think they can't possibly combine into something tasty.  They do.  Food science magic.

I love these.  Way too easy to eat most of an entire (9 serving!) bag in one sitting.  4.5/5.

Banana Kick.

"Banana Kick is a corn-based product, with the flavor and shape of a banana. Loved specially among children, who find its crunchy sound and delicious taste appealing."

These are such a fascinating product.

Imagine a big airy snack puff, like a cheese puff but even more melt in your mouth in texture, and sweet, ... banana flavored.  Its like all the flavor infused in banana Runts, but, in a very munchable form factor.  They are odd, unique, and strangely delicious.

I love the crispy and airy form factor (they are very mild corn flavor, with a corn flour base).  I love the very artificial banana flavor (it really is just like banana Runts!).  Sometimes I think they are a bit too sweet (sugar is actually the second ingredient!), but generally, I love the over the top sweetness.  I don't know why we don't have any snacks even in this category (that I know of) in the US.

I enjoy these, and grab a bag whenever I see them.  But beware, you definitely have to be craving a sweet snack!  Low 4/5.  They are sorta similar to the sweet puffs line from Tohato (Japanese brand), that I also adore.