It’s 9:30 p.m., AP U.S. History notes are sprawled out in a chaotic heap in front of me and I’m going to explode if I read one more sentence about Andrew Carnegie and his steel factories.
My bed and my phone, just four feet away from the edge of the desk, seem to be hollering my name, begging me to join them in a wonderland of relaxation. In times like these — which is basically every day for an avid procrastinator like me — the only thing that can keep me going is one of my favorite Asian spicy snacks.
My go-to snack when I’m craving something spicy are these spicy konjac strips, which can be found for about the same price ($5.50-6 for a pack of 20) at Ranch 99 or on Weee!. Konjac is a plant native to Asia, and its roots are used to make a variety of dishes and snacks. They have a chewy, slightly rubbery texture and grooves along one side of each strip. These come in a couple of flavors, some less spicy than others. My favorite is the “Hot & Spicy” flavor, which comes in red individual packages perfect for a snack. There’s also a green “Sour and Hot” flavor and an orange “Szechuan Taste” one, which has more of a peppercorn taste and leaves a tingling sensation on your tongue.
Spicy konjac strips make a refreshing — and tongue-tingling — treat.
Next on my list are these Jinzai Roasted Hot and Spicy Tofus, which aren’t even available at Ranch 99 (the quintessential Asian supermarket) but can be bought from Weee ($5 for a pack of 20). These are a lot less spicy than the konjac strips, but they have a more complex flavor and texture. The tofu is pretty firm, and it soaks in a perfect amount of the spicy sauce to be flavorful but not too salty. I’ve had better ones from stores in China, but these are the best I’ve found that can be easily bought in the U.S.
Hot and Spicy Tofu snacks come in a rectangular box, although they are individually wrapped.
I bought a big haul of spicy konjac strips and spicy tofu from Weee! a few weeks ago, and I’ve fallen into the rather unhealthy habit of eating one a day, usually rotating between the two kinds. My justification is that it elevates my spirits and gives me motivation to continue doing homework. And surely a daily spicy snack can’t be as unhealthy as eating something with a lot of sugar like candy, right?
I also love snacking on Asian rice crackers, like these circular ones with a syrup coating ($3 for a pack of 12) or these rectangular, salty ones ($2 for a pack of 16). Both of these are really crispy, and I’ve been having them as snacks since before my elementary school years. Each is packed in a small portion with two crackers, which is a pretty good amount for the bigger, circular crackers but less so for the smaller rectangular ones. I turn to these when I want to snack on something not just for the taste, but also to ease my hunger.
Sweet (left) and salty (right) Asian rice crackers.
The last on my go-to list of afterschool snacks are Tomato Mexican Chicken Flavor Lays ($2.50 for a 70g pack). Ignoring its incredibly questionable name, Tomato Mexican Chicken Lays are the best flavor I’ve ever had. It’s not too salty like the Barbecue Lays, and the tomato flavor gives it a refreshing tang. The flavor is basically 95% tomato and 5% other assorted spices, and you can’t find it in normal grocery stores like Safeway or Walmart.
On Weee! — however — Tomato Mexican Chicken is just one of the many other untraditional flavors of Lays. Just by searching the keyword “Lays” on the website, over 25 flavors show up, among them “Numb and Spicy Hot Pot Flavor,” “Cucumber Flavor” and “Roasted Cumin Lamb Skewer Flavor.” The ones I’ve tried so far have all been pretty good.
My all-time favorite flavor of Lays.
Without these snacks, I probably wouldn’t have been able to survive the hours of APUSH note taking or Zumdahl problem-solving in AP Chemistry I’ve had to do this year. Daily snacking is my guilty pleasure, and these Asian snacks have Weee-lly never let me down.
