A new product so good it’ll likely go viral.
These days, many visitors to Japan get their information on what to buy at convenience stores through social media accounts, but it always pays to keep your eyes open for other interesting finds while you’re browsing the aisles, because then you can discover new products before they go viral online.
▼ Take, for example, this humble product hiding out in the seasonings aisle, overlooked by many foreign tourists.
Called “Aventure Meshi“, with “Aventure” referring to “adventure” and “meshi” meaning “rice” or “meal“, this product brands itself as “Seasoning for Potato Chip Meshi.”
▼ That’s not something a lot of customers will be familiar with, so the pack includes an image of the intended meal to illustrate the concept.
Sold exclusively at 7-Eleven stores from 13 October, this new seasoning is designed to enhance the joys of a forbidden combination: potato chips and white rice. As ardent lovers of potato chips, this sounded like a weird but possibly wonderful pairing, so we picked up the two flavours available, Garlic Butter and Mentaiko Mayo, with each one priced at 213 yen (US$1.36).
According to the instructions on the back, making the so-called “Potato Chip Rice” is easy – simply mix one seasoning sachet with 180 grams (6.3 ounces) of warm rice, and then top it with potato chips.
As for the type of potato chips to use, the makers recommend trying a classic lightly salted flavour first, before trying something a bit stronger like seaweed salt.
▼ As this was our first time, we opted for the lightly salted chips.
One gripe we had with the instructions was the second step, which says to place an “appropriate amount” of chips on top.
How much is an “appropriate amount” of potato chips? That’s a question for the ages, and we had no idea what it meant here so we just decided to pile on a sensible amount that would ensure they wouldn’t fall out of the bowl.
▼ Behold, Potato Chip Rice.
It was a meal that seemed to break all the rules of traditional Japanese dining etiquette… and we couldn’t wait to try it.
As expected, it wasn’t bad at all. In fact, it was almost too good. The seasoning sachet turned out to be an essential ingredient, as it contained a delicious garlic butter flavour that spread gently throughout the palate, adding a rich and full-bodied umami to the crunchy potato chips. However, there was one surprise we weren’t expecting.
▼ We could hardly taste the chips.
The seasoning was so good that it pushed the potato chips to the sidelines, leaving them to provide a textural accent rather than any type of flavour. Though we were expecting the rice and potato chips to dance together, in reality the seasoning took the lead, relegating the potato chips to a spectator seat.
As we had a pack of seaweed salt flavour chips in the pantry, we grabbed a few of those and added them to the rice in the hopes they might provide more flavour. However, it hardly made a difference.
Still, these potato chip flavours aren’t really that strong on their own, so it’s no surprise that the Garlic Butter seasoning took over, and it tasted so good that we certainly weren’t complaining. With our expectations now raised, we ripped into the Mentaiko Mayo seasoning pack, and after mixing it with the rice, we found that it was of equally high quality, and even richer, with a more junky, decadent taste that stole the spotlight from the potato chips once again.
The potato chips were great for textural contrast, but in the end, we left them out of the equation altogether so we could enjoy the rice with the seasonings alone, and the results were extraordinary.
▼ After all, the fine print says “希望のままにご用意ください”, which means “Please prepare it as you desire”.
The seasonings took the white rice to a whole other realm of deliciousness, and as soon as we finished one bowl we were keen to have another. It’s a fantastic hidden find, and we haven’t seen anyone talking about this product on social media yet, so now’s the time to stop by 7-Eleven to try it before it disappears from shelves. With the chain also selling rice that staff will heat up for you at the register – simply grab a tub from the fridge and say “Atatamete onegai shimasu” (“please heat it up”) – you can easily try it out in your hotel room or rented accommodation.
Reference link: Ebara Foods
Photos ©SoraNews24
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