So, I was returning from work last night when I decided to make a quick stop at the local 7-11. I was just looking to pick up some milk but ran across something odd enough to catch my eye. Now, in Japan I have found some pretty strange snack food, yet a salt and chocolate candy bar may be the strangest thing yet. There are many things which fit well with chocolate. Peanut butter is always a favorite mix of mine. Yet, can salt provide a enjoyable taste with chocolate?
I was hooked by this idea and picked up a pack of salty crunch. Once I got home I showed this stuff to the gal. She laughed at me for buying such a strange item. Despite her mocking me she also wanted to give it a go. So, after dinner we decided to give salty crunch an official taste test.
So...how is it?
Well, to tell the truth the salt taste is very light. The chocolate over powers most of the salt. Only after chewing it up did I get a sensation of salt in my mouth. After two or three though, I did experience a surprise tingle which did, oddly enough, add to the chocolate a bit. A good point of this odd snack is that it does provide a rather crisp texture due to the salt additive. It is by far packing a little more crunch as compared to other crunch type of candy bars.
Would I try it again?
I am not so sure I would give it a second go round. I expected more from this little snack and it kind of let me down. The salt part seems to be just a hook to get people to buy the chocolate. The additive provide almost nothing in the way of taste. The texture can be had by other means than salt.
Give it a go and let me know what you think.
3 comments:
Salty chocolate can be very good, but the balance is pretty important. Some department stores sell something called "Potechi" (potato chips covered in chocolate) which is a good combination of salty and sweet.
I've sampled a few salty chocolates as of late. Most recently, I tried the salty vanilla "Air In" Tirol candy and found the salt too strong.
http://japanesesnackreviews.blogspot.com/2009/05/tirol-air-in-salty-vanilla-premium.html
The other item I tried was Sequoia salty vanilla and the salt was too weak. It seems that it's hard for the consumer level manufacturers to get the balance right.
Salt with chocolate is actually a somewhat common occurrence among chocolatiers, mainly in Europe. Truffles in particular usually have salt added as a variant flavor. I rather like the taste myself, but only with really good chocolate.
sounds tasty . I think I've seen it before but shied away from it.
PS : "Only after crewing it up did I .." ? you mean chewing?
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