This time: 'Lucky Mayonnaise' rice crackers.
Japan likes making snacks that taste like mayo. Mostly potato snacks, but you see corn and rice ones, too. I've got a bag of 'soy sauce mayo' crisps somewhere, I could review those.
Lucky Mayonnaise is made with mochi rice, sourced from both Japan and Thailand. (Mayonnaise is the 2nd ingredient on the list.) They don't look like rice crackers, on a first glance. Until I checked the back of the bag, I thought they were made from potato.
Pack design's simple but effective. You see the words 'Lucky Mayonnaise' and you're hooked, basically. Well, that's why I bought it. This is too interesting to pass up. It's also nice and cheap.
It was hard to find out why there's a bird on the bag. The company that makes them doesn't give much away. From other people's reviews, it seems like the bird motif's related to the Chinese year of the rooster. Ah, hey, that's where the luck comes in!
But that was 2017. And that's not even a rooster design. And I bought this in 2018, the year of the dog. Redesigning the pack every year must be too much effort.
Open the bag to be instantly hit by a strong mayo scent. Ah, now that's reassuring. I was half expecting them to have a mayo filling. But no, they're crunchy in the middle. And not too high in calories, considering they look deep fried.
The main thing to ask is 'do these actually taste like mayonnaise?' and holy crap, they do. Lucky Mayonnaise is by far the most authentic mayo-flavoured thing I've eaten.
Added vinegar piles on the strength. It's like eating mayonnaise straight from the jar with a spoon. Or squeezing the bottle directly into your mouth. So weird. So... weirdly addictive.
I like mayo - wouldn't have touched these with a bargepole if I didn't. I enjoyed eating these, and would buy them again. I got a kick out of seeing other people's reactions to how strong they are.
These snacks are classed as 'otsumami', for snacking on while drinking. They start to get heavy on the salt and vinegar taste about halfway through. I don't recommend trying to eat a whole pack without a drink handy, to wash them down.
The other question is 'is Lucky Mayonnaise really lucky?' I've got no idea yet. Didn't feel any instant luck while I was chewing away. It's been around a week since I ate them, and I haven't noticed anything significant. This isn't a quick fix if you're trying to transform your fortunes.
Maybe I won't get the lucky benefits until the next year of the rooster. That's... 2029. Eat some rice crackers and wait 11 years for luck? Next time, I'll just buy a mayo packet and a lottery ticket.
Verdict: 9.5/10. Authentic enough to justify using 'mayonnaise' in the product name, instead of hedge-your-bets 'mayo'. The 'luck' bit remains to be seen, but I'm happy to wait it out.