Wasabeef: Addictive Wasabi and Beef Flavor Potato Chips
When it comes to Japanese seasoning (condiment) with a pungent taste, Japanese horseradish, or wasabi is one of the representatives.
As preparation, the root is first grated and the resulting green paste is widely used for a variety of dishes in Japanese cuisine, including sushi, sashimi, and soba noodles.
In addition to the uses in those traditional dishes, in Japan, wasabi is also used to give snacks a little bit of kick, and many varieties of snacks with wasabi flavor can be bought in supermarkets.
Since I’m Japanese, I have tried various wasabi flavor treats until now, from senbei to newly released potato snacks, but among those, what I introduce here “Wasabeef (わさビーフ)” is one of my favorites.
Yamayoshi Wasabeef Potato Chips
Actually, Wasabeef is a long-selling potato chip introduced in 1987 by “Yamayoshi Seika (山芳製菓)”. As you might guess, the name Wasabeef is a compound word composed of wasabi and beef, and this potato chip literally has a wasabi and beef flavor.
As you can see in the picture above, “wasabi produced in Nagano Prefecture (長野県産わさび)” is used in the potato chips. Actually in Japan, Nagano, especially, the city Azumino is very famous as a production area of wasabi.
I have visited the wasabi plantation that represents Azumino “Daio Wasabi Farm (大王わさび農場)” many times, where there are creeks running through the farm and watermills are working along the stream, and the landscape is very beautiful.
Taste
To get back to the main subject, in taste, Yamayoshi Wasabeef Potato Chips is characterized by the addictive combination of beef and wasabi. With one bite, the delicious flavor of beef first spreads in the mouth, followed by the refreshing aftertaste of wasabi. The combination is very good and won’t let you down.
Ingredients
Lastly, let’s see the ingredients. Based on the list on the back of the bag, the Yamayoshi Wasabeef Potato Chips mainly consists of Non-GMO potato, sugar, powdered soy sauce, beef powder (including chicken and gelatin), salt, garlic, red chili pepper, onion, and wasabi powder.