Roasted Garlic Oyster Flavor

These are my favorite of the four bags I sampled for this post and the best of all of the flavors I have tried over the past year. These chips have a legit, solid garlic flavor and totally remind me of roasted oysters.

The ingredients are pretty cryptic, the third flavor is “food flavor”. The ingredient list includes Disodium 5′-ribonucleotide, aspartame (sweetener) and TBHC (oil stabilizer which prolongs shelf life). Disodium 5′-ribonucleotide works synergistically with MSG to produce umami flavor.

Smoked Rib Flavor.

The ingredient list includes only a few ingredients I associate with BBQ ribs. “BBQ seasoning” is listed, but appears to mainly be comprised of salt, sugar and yeast extract, the last of which is a way to get MSG into food. Far down the ingredient list there is ginger, star anise and ginger, which I associate with Asian BBQ flavor. Soy sauce is listed three times among the ingredients. MSG is high up the ingredient list and in combination with the yeast extract, you know that there is a good dose of MSG in these chips (not that is a bad thing).

The chips have a vaguely porky-savory flavor but no discernible smoke flavor or BBQ flavor. If you are looking for a nondescript savory flavor these chips will work.

Zibo Barbecue Style

I did not understand the concept of this variety of chips. Zibo Barbeque Style have a nondescript savory flavor without any particular flavor profile or direction. The ingredients list “Zibo Barbecue Seasoning (citric acid, Disodium 5′-ribonucleotide, aspartame)”, which provides no clue as to what this chips are supposed to taste like.

I think part of the confusion is that, as best I can tell, Zibo BBQ describes a style of eating not a signature flavor. Zibo is a city in China that became a viral foodie destination in 2022/2023 for its outdoor BBQ restaurants. In the Zibo style of BBQ, you grill meat skewers on tabletop charcoal stoves and then wrap them in a thin crepe or pancake with a raw green onion stalk and a smear of hot sauce. Other than mentions of cumin commonly being an ingredient, I have not been able to find a description of a unifying flavor for Zibo BBQ, it appears that lots of different sauces and marinades are used.

It seems like these potato chips are not really about a specific flavor profile but invoke a style of dining. The packaging depicts what appear to be chunks of grilled meat, on a crepe with a scallion stalk.

Hot and Sour Lemon Braised Chicken Feet Flavor

I can find recipes and YouTube videos for Lemon Braised Chicken Feet (柠檬凤爪), so I think this is a legit Chinese dish. Of Lays Chinese flavors, this one is one of the best and these chips deliver the exact flavor promised on the bag – they are hot, sour and lemony. I am not sure if there is any contribution of chicken feet flavor, but from what I have read chicken feet do not have much flavor, which is part of why they are often cooked by braising them with strong aromatics and spices.

These chips also have a cryptic ingredient list – the third ingredient is “Flavor”. Followed on the list by our friend Disodium 5′-ribonucleotide, and then DL-malic acid (a sour flavor), capsaicin, aspartame and TBHC.