Friday, January 27, 2017

Jica Chips

I love jicama.  I love chips and other munchy snacks.  I was thrilled, thrilled, to discover jica chips, aka, jicama chips.  Take a veggie I love and turn it into chips?  Fairly healthy ones at that?  Yes!

If you aren't familiar with jicama, which, I wasn't until a few years ago, it is also sometimes called a "Mexican potato", or, if you are in Australia, a "yam bean".  It is a kinda ugly tuber, that is far juicier than you'd expect.  Looks like a potato, but bites like a pear?  Except it isn't sweet.  A savory apple-potato?  I know I'm not doing a good job describing jicama, but, I really don't know what else to compare it to.  Maybe like a water chestnut?  It is juicy, not sweet, and really crunchy.  I love it, fresh, just to munch on.  I don't even require dips with it, although, of course I prefer dips.

So, Jica Chips.  A healthier alternative to potato chips, since jicama has about 50% the carbs of a potato.  And then they bake them, rather than fry.  100 calories gets you 10 potato chips, or, 25 jicachips.  25 > 10.  They are also high fiber, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, paleo, etc, etc.

Jica Chips are available in 6 flavors - some savory (smoked bbq, sea salt, white cheddar), some spicy (spicy soy ginger, chili lime), and one sweet (cinnamon sugar).  I was only able to try the basic sea salt flavor, but I'd gladly try others.
Sea Salt Jica Chips.
My first impression was not a good one.  I opened the bag, and instantly was met with a strange odor.  Like, really bad.  Just opening the bag made the air around me undesirable.  Ojan reached out for the bag, took one whiff, and turned away.  We both agreed the smell really did ruin these.

But I pushed on, given how excited I was by the idea of the jicama chips.  They didn’t taste like they smelt at all.  They were delightfully crunchy, and I loved the large size slices, most pieces much bigger than standard potato chips.  They were perhaps a bit too salty, but, I like high salt level.

That said … I didn't really taste jicama.  The result was something that didn't seem very special, just another root veggie chip.  They grew on me, particularly once I got over the smell, but I still wanted them to be something more.

Still, a good healthier alternative for my snacking habits, and I'd love to try some of the other flavors.

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