10 Snacks I Always Pick Up at an Asian Grocery Store
published about 1 hour ago
When I was growing up in Long Island, visiting the local Asian supermarket was a weekly activity for my Filipino family. My sisters and I would always head straight to the snack section to toss our favorites (plus anything new that may have intrigued us) into the cart. When we traveled to the Philippines to visit the rest of our family, we always made sure to visit the local grocery store, perusing aisles of snacks, chocolate, and candy. It was an amped-up version of our weekly grocery trips back at home, with a myriad of snacks we’d never seen before.
Now I live in Florida with my husband, and for a while I didn’t think there was an Asian grocery store within an hour of our house. One weekend a few months back, though, he took me to a new Asian grocery store in town — and I think it surprised us both how much I enjoyed this visit. Seeing some of the packaged snacks I used to eat growing up (as well as vegetables I’d been skipping or finding substitutes for) made me so happy.
Here are 10 of my all-time favorite snacks that I make sure to always put in my cart whenever I’m at an Asian grocery store (when I can find them, of course). Offerings vary widely from store to store, so if you spot any of these items, I’d recommend snagging them.
1. Pocky Almond Crush
OG Pocky is great, but Almond Crush is where it’s at. It’s a chocolate-covered biscuit stick dipped in roasted almonds, which is then dipped once again to coat everything in another layer of milk chocolate. The bits of almond give this snack a layer of flavor and crunch that I can’t resist.
Buy : Pocky Almond Crush , $15 for 5 (2.47-ounce) boxes
2. King Choc Nut
Made with coconut milk, crushed peanuts, and cocoa powder, Choc Nut has a nutty taste and crumbly texture. I like to take a bite and let it dissolve in my mouth so that it takes on a hard peanut butter-like texture before melting away. It’s unlike anything else I’ve tasted.
Buy : King Choc Nut , $16.43 for 3 (7.76-ounce) packs
3. Nagaraya Cracker Nuts
These cracker nuts are peanuts encased in a crunchy flour-based coating and are available in five different flavors: Original, Garlic, Hot & Spicy, Barbecue, and Adobo. I like to take one out of the bag and shake it to hear the peanut rattling around inside.
Buy : Nagaraya Cracker Nuts , $16.70 for 5 (5.64-ounce) bags
4. Oishi Pillows
Oishi Pillows are crackers stuffed with a chocolatey filling. The texture is what makes these so unique. The outside is dry (kind of like cereal) but turns spongey if you let it dissolve in your mouth. It also comes in ube (purple yam) flavor, which I also like — but when given the choice, I prefer the original.
Buy : Oishi Pillows , $19.80 for 3 (5.29-ounce) bags
5. Leslie’s Clover Chips
Clover Chips are corn-based chips shaped like … you guessed it, the leaves of a clover. They’re softer than your average corn chip (compared to, say, Fritos), which makes them easier to eat by the handful. They come in flavors like Cheesier (my favorite), Barbecue, and Ham & Cheese.
Buy : Leslie’s Clover Chips , $14.95 for 5.12 ounces at Walmart
6. Sky Flakes Crackers
This ubiquitous snack is often sold in a square plastic container that in a Filipino household will almost certainly get repurposed to hold something else long after the crackers are all gone. I’ve been eating these thin, Saltine-like crackers since I was a kid, either straight out of the box or with a slice of American cheese melted over several crackers.
Buy : Sky Flakes Crackers , $11.61 for 32 packs
7. Philippine Brand Dried Mangoes
Philippine mangos are renowned for their sweet taste and buttery texture. To me, there’s no better-tasting fruit out there. Unfortunately, fresh Philippine mangoes are a lot harder to come by in the U.S. Their more shelf-stable dried counterparts are widely available, though. I eat these to help tide me over until the next time I can visit the Philippines to eat the real thing.
Buy : Philippine Brand Dried Mangoes , $12.89 for 12 packs
8. White Rabbit Creamy Candy
This candy is like a white milky Tootsie Roll wrapped in a thin sheet of edible rice paper. The exterior wax paper wrapper isn’t edible, but as a kid, it always blew my mind that the interior wrapper was meant to be eaten.
Buy : White Rabbit Creamy Candy , $4.65 for 6.3 ounces
9. Regent Golden Sweet Corn
This snack reminds me of cheese balls (if cheese balls tasted like sweet corn). Similar to cheese balls, these sweet corn puffs are hard to stop eating once you’ve started. Whenever I used to bring them to school for snack time, everyone who tried them liked them.
Buy : Regent Golden Sweet Corn , $16.98 for 6 (60g) packs
10. Shrimp Snacks
These crispy chips are infused with a shrimpy flavor. I eat these straight out of the bag, but they can also be eaten along with dip or crumbled over dishes (like fried rice) for added flavor and texture.
Buy : Shrimp Snacks , $16.99 for 6 (2.5-ounce) packs
What are your favorite snacks at your local Asian grocery store?
Abigail Abesamis Demarest
Contributor
Abigail Abesamis Demarest is a freelance contributor for Apartment Therapy and The Kitchn. When she’s not writing she’s reading up on the latest wellness trends, teaching Zumba classes, or reading a book on the beach.
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Source : food
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