Kaya: A Coconut Spread

Hello Food Friends! I am here, back from the dead to review/describe an interesting food product I came across in my local Chinese Supermarket (if you live in the lower parts of Brooklyn you can probably guess which one). I had never seen or heard of this spread before until I saw it sitting on the shelf, as I was frantically searching for agar agar powder (that’ll be for another post).

So here I have purchased “Traditional Kaya”, a coconut spread. According to the Wikipedia page about this spread, it is a coconut curd or jam that is popular in Southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Kaya in the Malay language means "rich", representing the texture of the spread. It is also referred to as Serikaya or Srikaya. 

While we were in the supermarket, my mother inspected it and said it was probably the stuff Chinese bakeries use to make their coconut breads or tarts, so I gave it a try. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this besides taste it, but my mother had also recommended I spread it on toast.

Upon purchase, I had expected the spread to be thick like Nutella or caramel, since it shares a rich brown color to caramel or dulce de leche. To my surprise, it was actually much lighter than I expected, contrary to its given name. The consistency is very similar to apple butter, which I feel to be a more concentrated version of applesauce. Imagine applesauce, except a darker color, sweeter and less watery.

The coconut flavor is very faint so this wouldn’t be a bad spread to feed to those who aren’t coconut lovers (e.g. Everyone in my life. Smh). I also detected a faint coconut scent, and when eating the spread accompanied with toast, it can be difficult to detect the coconut. Sampling by itself, however, it is much more prominent, but not overwhelming. It is not overly sweet either, so although I recommend you not to do this, you could eat spoonfuls of the stuff. 

Overall, a decent spread. Nothing that will blow your mind, but it’s not bad on toast. I’m interested to see what else I could do with this spread (Maybe a custard? Not sure, I’ll have to test that out). So let me know what you would do with this spread or if you’ve had it before!

 Happy eating!!

Lay's Do Us A Flavor Chips Review

What? A review on chips?? What happened to you?!?

Well, to be honest, I actually had another post in the works reviewing new (at that time) flavors of Triscuit crackers, but I supposed I waited too long and didn't get to it in the end. Also, they aren't nearly as intriguing or eye-catching as these new Lay's Do Us A Flavor chips that have been catching all the buzz. I guess I'm a little late to the party to these too >_>

Let's start with the Cappuccino one, since that's what you probably came here to read about.

With no specific cut or cooking method, the Cappuccino Lay's have a regular potato chip base, just like the ones you'd find in, well, a regular bag of Lay's. However, these are definitely way less salted and have a slightly sweet taste. As for the coffee flavor, it's not too strong but it does come off as coffee as opposed to anything else. Like what? I don't know. Coconut oil? Cinnamon? Gasoline? (Not gasoline.)

Overall, I would give these chips a thumbs up! This might be because I have an insane sweet tooth, and I'm that type of person who dips their fries into ice-cream. My mom, on the other hand, is not the biggest fan of sweet and salty combinations; however, she didn't seem to mind these. Wait - it's probably because she's a coffee addict. I had my friends try these too and I received mixed results - some adored them, others were confused. In the end, I would repurchase to mix into cookies and brownies - I can see these being great components in baked goods. YES.

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Next up, Mango Salsa. To be quite honest, I don't know what I was expecting. A few weeks ago, I finished up a jar of mango salsa that was slowly reaching its expiration date, so that must have been the reason why this appealed to me. I am curious of the result of dipping these chips into mango salsa.

One thing I don't understand - why choose Wavy Lay's for these? The only thing I have against wavy chips is that sometimes they're so big I can't shove them in my mouth (twss). As for the flavor, the mango is fairly mild. It doesn't seem as though the mango taste is in the seasoning powder (even though it probably is and that's just me going insane), but you can taste it and it's there. (P.S. - If you've ever heard of The Nosh Show, the people that run that podcast have recently reviewed them and Ryan could seriously not have explained it any better.) The flavor reminds me of a mango gummy candy rather than real mango, although some may disagree. I get no salsa taste from these. Overall, not awful, but I wouldn't repurchase these. Plus, these were my least favorite. :c

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Wasabi Ginger is up next. I passed by them the day before I picked these up because I 1. am not the biggest fan of wasabi and 2. am not the biggest fan spicy things. Imagine my surprise when I tried them - it turns out I really like these! Upon first bite, you are hit HARD with intense wasabi flavor. However, unlike sticking a glob of wasabi in your mouth, the spiciness dissipates and thankfully doesn't burn the hell out of your mouth. That is probably the main reason why I like these: the flavor keeps it interesting and doesn't numb my mouth after having a chip. Verdict: Fave.

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Cheddar Bacon Mac and Cheese. The flavor that will probably win, sadly. "Sadly?!?!" you shout, "These sound awesome!!!". I'm eh about these. I feel like we already have so many cheese and bacon themed chips in the market already; do we really need more? In my opinion, these weren't exemplary. Of course, they weren't horrible - how can you hate bacon or cheese? Compared to the other flavors, these just seemed so flat and dull.

Pictured: Some pretty orange chips

These chips are pretty cheese powder-y and have a slight bacon aroma - not unlike other bacon flavored chips (think cheddar bacon potato skins from TGI Fridays., if you've had them). Since I had these last, these were underwhelming to me and I kinda sorta hope they don't win. Sorry Matt Allen.

Alright, final results. If I had to list these in order of most to least favorite:
1. Wasabi Ginger
2. Cappucino
3. Cheddar Bacon Mac and Cheese
4. Mango Salsa

However, if I were to recommend these to a friend, I would switch #1 and #2, because I like making my friends feel uncomfortable and confused. Anyway, if you tried these, feel free to tell me what you thought!

[P.S. - I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture of the chips themselves. I AM DUMB. Hopefully I'll get around to buying more to photograph >_>)

Update: I got photos! No Wasabi Ginger though noooooooooooo!!!! I don't know how but they all went missing and I can't find any at the stores I've visited? I hardly believe somebody (that isn't me) is buying all of them. Hope they didn't toss them.

Pictured: On the left, each chip individually. Top to Bottom: Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese, Cappuccino, Mango Salsa