{"product_id":"calbee-kataage-potato-chips-black-pepper","title":"Calbee Kataage Potato Chips Black Pepper — 65g","description":"\u003cp\u003eThick-cut potato chips from Japan, fried one kettle at a time at a low temperature, which is why they come out hard rather than crisp. Think of a kettle chip, then make it harder. The black pepper gives a peppery kick rather than chilli heat. If you like a chip you can hear, this is the one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf \"hard potato chips\" sounds like a strange thing to want, give them one bag before you decide: writing them off as just hard potatoes and then changing your mind is the usual arc with these. And have them with a beer. In Japan this style of crisp isn't a party snack, it's something you put beside a drink, which is exactly how Calbee sells the range: the crisp to have beside a film or alongside a drink.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt's a genuine household name in Japan, not a niche flavour: on Monolog, a Japanese review site that only counts ratings from verified purchasers, this bag has over 13,000 ratings — and that is this flavour specifically, not the wider Kataage range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the pack: 堅あげポテト ブラックペッパー (kata-age poteto burakku peppaa). That's the name printed across the front of the bag, if you're checking it against the one you had in Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWhich Calbee this is\u003c\/strong\u003e: the kataage line, the thick-cut, slow-fried one. Not the everyday Calbee potato chips, and not Jagarico or Jagabee.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTexture\u003c\/strong\u003e: hard and loud rather than light and snappy; it's the point of the product, not a side effect. The chips themselves are small, which is worth knowing if you're picturing an Australian crisp.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTaste\u003c\/strong\u003e: sharp salt underneath, and a pepper you can smell when the bag opens and notice in the mouth, but not chilli-hot. Japan sells a separate, hotter version for people who want that.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIs it the good one?\u003c\/strong\u003e: it's the one people argue about. Plenty call it the best in the kataage range; about as many think the pepper is overdone. You'll know which camp you're in quickly.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains wheat and soy, and it is made on shared equipment (see below). Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo things to know before you order. These are genuinely hard: sharp enough to catch your gums, so they aren't a chip to eat in a hurry, and the pack's own guidance puts them at about four years and up. And the seasoning carries two animal-derived ingredients, a pork-containing yeast extract and a seasoned animal fat, so it isn't suitable if you avoid pork or don't eat meat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIt's made on shared equipment.\u003c\/strong\u003e The Japanese pack says the same line also runs products containing egg, milk, prawn and crab. If any of those is a problem for you, treat this as a shared-line product.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn size and price: it's a 65g bag, well under an Australian share bag, and it costs more per gram than a supermarket chip. This is a Japan-made import, not the Calbee packets in Coles and Woolworths: those are a different range at a different price. It's also not the hotter black-pepper bag in the same range: Calbee sells that one in Japan as 鬼旨 (oni-uma).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Calbee","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48216164958434,"sku":"SH-SNK-0004","price":4.49,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/calbee-kataage-potato-black-pepper-front-of-pack.webp?v=1788685477","url":"https:\/\/shintop.com.au\/products\/calbee-kataage-potato-chips-black-pepper","provider":"Shintop Trading Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}