After Lay’s teased a photo of a new Watermelon flavour potato chip earlier this month, we couldn’t help but wonder: what in the MSG is going on? Living in Thailand, we’re no strangers to outrageous Lay’s flavours, so this week, the Lifestyle Asia team gathers in the pantry to discuss: what is the craziest Lay’s flavour you’ve ever tried?
It must be fun working in the Lay’s flavour department in Thailand. We imagine them seated around a large conference table, yelling suggestions across the room: “Stir-fried shrimp with chili and garlic!” “Grilled squid!” “Spaghetti Carbonara!”
Whilst it may sound like just another sporadic lunch order to some, all these foods and more have really been turned into marketable, buyable, and (somewhat) edible Lay’s potato chip flavours in Thailand. No cuisine is too obscure. No combination is too far-fetched. If you can dream it, you can turn it into seasoning and sprinkle it on a chip.
[Hero and Featured Image Credit: Bermix Studio/Unsplash]
Thailand is a real Mecca for serial snackers. We don’t limit ourselves to eating three times a day, and we enjoy afternoon and late night runs to the nearest 7-11, Family Mart, or Mom & Pop shop for our daily top up. There are pages and pages of content on the internet centred around rankings, suggestions, and overall fascinations around our snacking culture. Obscurely-flavoured potato chips are a big part of this.
Potato chips makers around the world commonly produce the trinity of Classic/Salty, Cheesy/Sour Cream, and Spicy/Paprika flavours. Some countries switch it up with a barbecue flavour, while others lean into more sour profiles, like the UK’s beloved prawn cocktail. In Asia, potato chips are adapted to a local palate and feature ingredients more familiar to the local market. In Thailand, they even go so far as to mimic entire meals, and meal-time behaviours.
Scratch-your-head-silly flavours we’ve seen in Thailand include everything from extensions of the classics (like cheese with the addition of prik pao, chili lime with the addition of salmon, or a sweet caramel popcorn edition) to recreations of entire dishes (shrimp tom yum hot pot, pad krapow, or grilled Japanese freshwater eel). In some cases, they’ve even gone so far as to mimic not just what we eat, but how we eat it, too. Why stop at a grilled prawn flavour, when you can make it grilled prawn with seafood sauce? Why enjoy only a fried chicken wing flavour, when you can have a fried chicken wing with Sriracha sauce flavour? Lastly, why stop at ham and cheese, when Lay’s can make a potato chip edition of the actual 7-11 ham and cheese sandwich you so love to eat for lunch?
It is around here that the emoji with its brains exploding feels appropriate. Lay’s, and other potato chip manufacturers in Thailand, have found a way for us to practically be able to eat potato chips for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and not just as a fun snack in between these meal times. They mimic our favourite dishes, and how we like to enjoy them. Potato chips: are they but a few steps away from world domination?
Certainly dominating the conversation in our team this week, read on for what the Lifestyle Asia team thinks is the most outrageous Lay’s potato chip flavour in Thailand to date. Take note, and let us know if you have any to add.
LSA Opinion: What is the craziest Lay’s potato chip flavour in Thailand?
Cooling Melon Bingsu
It’s got to be the cooling melon bingsu flavour. Like, who even thinks of that?
—TC, Content Writer
Green Curry
It has to be the Green Curry flavour. It’s definitely green, but curry? Pushing it a little bit. I guess we’ll never know what went through that aspiring intern’s mind as he sprung up his hand and got this flavour into the mix, but I hope he never sees the light of day again.
—VC, Content Writer
Salted Egg
The khai khem flavour. It was back when those salted egg chips from Singapore came here and, as Thailand usually does, everyone decided to put it on everything—and I mean everything. While it didn’t work for some, thankfully, it went great with Lay’s chips. Kinda wished they kept it around and not just as a special flavour.
—ES, Senior Writer
Somtum and Charcoal-grilled Chicken
The concept may not sound outrageous by itself; I mean, in fact, it’s supposed to be delicious showcasing two of Thailand’s most favourite foods. But the flavours fall short: there’s a small trace of almost non-existent somtum, which gave off artificial flavours, while the chicken part truly disappeared.
—PL, Features Editor
Hot and Sour Lemon Braised Chicken Feet
This is one fine strategy to make the traditional, local Chinese dish less intimidating and more accessible for everyone. It’s supposed to be hot, sour, lemon-y, and, of course chicken feet-y, and I would expect the slippery texture of chicken feet instead of the usual Lay’s crunch.
—PC, Content Writer
Meangkam
Meangkam is one of my favourite Southeast Asian dishes, consisting of an array of ingredients (shallots, chili, ginger, lime, roasted coconut, dried shrimp, to name a few) assembled into a chaphlu leaf before being folded into a bite-size snack. I have no idea why Lay’s decided to choose this very specific food to be converted into chip-form, and I think it’s near impossible to actually replicate the flavour. What I like is that similar to potato chips, meangkam is a social dish, best enjoyed together with friends and family (or a lover who feeds them to you). Unlike potato chips, however, meangkam was once consumed in the royal courts. How did we get here?
—LG, Creative Content Director
Lisa Gries
Creative Content Director, Bangkok
Lisa is the Creative Content Director at Lifestyle Asia and Prestige Thailand. When she’s not knees-deep in SEO analysis or editorial calendars, you’ll likely find her in downward-facing dog at the yoga studio, or immersed in conversation at a secret bar in China town. Lisa writes mostly on dining, travel, and pop-culture, and is a huge fan of soup dumplings, Riesling, and power napping — in exactly that order.
Most Popular
