Calbee Jagariko: 2 Popular Recipes using the Snack

Calbee is the top Japanese snack food manufacturer with the largest share in Japan’s market. The company are producing and selling a large variety of snacks, and many of them have been long-time favorites of us Japanese.

But among those, Calbee Potato Chips and Jagariko (also spelled as Jagarico) Potato Fries are especially well-recognized and have become the best-selling products.

Calbee Jagariko

Calbee Jagariko is lightly salted but full of umami with a pleasant crispy bite to it. So I have loved the series for over 20 years since the original was introduced in 1995.

Now, Jagariko has become a standard potato snack in Japan and is available in most supermarkets and convenience stores around the country.

Actually, today I went shopping at a drugstore near my house and found a new product of Jagariko sold as a limited time offer.

Since I am fond of trying new things, I wanted to give that a try, so I bought one for about 100 yen (about 1 USD), which has a Nori-Mentai flavor.

Together with a little bit spicy taste that comes from the Mentai spicy Alaska pollack roe, this Jagariko potato stick features a pleasant aroma from the seaweed Nori.

After trying out these treats, I found Nori and Mentaiko are, as a whole, a good pair for Jagariko.

In addition to limited-time flavors that sometimes come out like this, the potato stick Jagarico comes in several regular flavors, among which I think “Salad (サラダ)” and “Cheese (チーズ)” are the best.

2 Popular Recipes Using Jagariko Sticks

By the way, according to the 2016 financial statements for Calbee, the Jagariko line has recorded the second-highest sales in their potato snack category, after Potato Chips.

In addition to the great popularity, since Jagariko is made by deep-frying steamed potato sticks, some people like creating recipes using these potato fries and share on the internet.

As I wrote in this article, following the instructions of a recipe shared online, the other day I actually tried making potato potage soup with Jagariko Salad Flavor.

Other than that potato potage soup recipe, you can also find many mashed potatoes recipes using Jagariko sticks, including this, on the internet offered in Japanese.

The majority of dishes made with Jagariko Potato Fries have a good reputation, which I think is probably because the taste of Jagariko itself is so good.