But eating, for me, was all about the discovery of new things. While my friends stuck with old standbys, I was drinking goat milk, rice milk, and oat milk decades before they were cool. I was eating bison burgers while my peers were eating McDonald's for the fourth time in a week. As far as grains were concerned, wheat was forbidden by my parents for most of my childhood. I ate rice bread, millet bread, and pancakes made with amaranth flour, among other things.
Even so, I'd never even heard of foods like seitan and tempeh until I befriended a group of vegetarians and vegans while living in Wilmington, NC in my early twenties. They introduced me to dishes that included tofu and soybean-based tempeh. I can still count on one hand the number of times I've had tempeh since then, but I'll never forget my first time trying it. I liked it. Didn't love it—but I liked it.
Apparently, Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Tempeh Chips are made with black-eyed peas rather than soybeans. That's just fine with me. I just realized two things while researching basic info about tempeh: 1) tempeh is fermented and uses a "starter culture" somewhat akin to sourdough and 2) tempeh is a traditional Indonesian food—and this product is indeed imported from Indonesia.
That said, these are very tasty chips. They're gluten free, they come in a resealable bag, and they're surprisingly spicy. There's definitely a sweet chili flavor not unlike your typical sweet Thai chili sauce, although not quite as syrupy sweet. Underneath, there's a good bit of saltiness and the earthy, nutty essence of black-eyed peas.
They're crispy and crunchy and remind me a bit of other bean-based chips—like traditional chips or crisps but denser and a bit more hearty. There's a faint dusting of powdery garlic and paprika on the surface of the chips and they're just mildly oily, too. They've got coconut oil but I wouldn't say any coconut shows up in the flavor profile in any meaningful way.
$3.49 for the 3 oz resealable bag. Gluten free. Product of Indonesia. Sonia and I would buy this again, but we fully recognize this is a product that won't be for everyone. If spicy chips made with black-eyed peas sound intriguing, we say give 'em a try. I can't imagine these will be at Trader Joe's forever, but I wouldn't be upset if they were. Eight out of ten stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Black-Eyed Pea Tempeh Chips.
Bottom line: 8 out of 10.
Even so, I'd never even heard of foods like seitan and tempeh until I befriended a group of vegetarians and vegans while living in Wilmington, NC in my early twenties. They introduced me to dishes that included tofu and soybean-based tempeh. I can still count on one hand the number of times I've had tempeh since then, but I'll never forget my first time trying it. I liked it. Didn't love it—but I liked it.
Apparently, Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Tempeh Chips are made with black-eyed peas rather than soybeans. That's just fine with me. I just realized two things while researching basic info about tempeh: 1) tempeh is fermented and uses a "starter culture" somewhat akin to sourdough and 2) tempeh is a traditional Indonesian food—and this product is indeed imported from Indonesia.
That said, these are very tasty chips. They're gluten free, they come in a resealable bag, and they're surprisingly spicy. There's definitely a sweet chili flavor not unlike your typical sweet Thai chili sauce, although not quite as syrupy sweet. Underneath, there's a good bit of saltiness and the earthy, nutty essence of black-eyed peas.
They're crispy and crunchy and remind me a bit of other bean-based chips—like traditional chips or crisps but denser and a bit more hearty. There's a faint dusting of powdery garlic and paprika on the surface of the chips and they're just mildly oily, too. They've got coconut oil but I wouldn't say any coconut shows up in the flavor profile in any meaningful way.
$3.49 for the 3 oz resealable bag. Gluten free. Product of Indonesia. Sonia and I would buy this again, but we fully recognize this is a product that won't be for everyone. If spicy chips made with black-eyed peas sound intriguing, we say give 'em a try. I can't imagine these will be at Trader Joe's forever, but I wouldn't be upset if they were. Eight out of ten stars from both Sonia and me for Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Black-Eyed Pea Tempeh Chips.
Bottom line: 8 out of 10.
I love trying alternative chips. Especially ones made with chickpeas, but they are hard to find. If you have any sources, please advise. However, spicy is not for me, so thanks for the warning.
ReplyDeleteI know we all liked TJ's black bean and quinoa tortilla chips (the "bean-based chips" link above in 2nd to last paragraph). I think TJ still sells the Papadums, which are made with chickpeas. TBH I don't remember them since another contributor wrote the review on this blog and he disliked them.
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