Not buying these again!
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. However, I was given a free sample of this product to review. The opinions in this review are strictly my own. I am not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. I am just a fan of the company. I write these reviews to help my fellow shoppers.
So I did a thing. Last time I was at Costco I was perusing the chip aisle and noticed that they had this new “shrimp chip” product. I thought to myself “I bet readers would want to know if those are good” so I ended up buying a bag of the Costco Sokusa Onion Garlic & Butter Happy Shrimp Chips.
Taste
What to say about these… well I’ll start by saying that I ate two and decided I wouldn’t be eating anymore. They just didn’t taste good to me and weren’t appealing although they didn’t taste awful. The texture is a little strange, they’re crunchy at first but they’re light like air and dissolve in your mouth very quickly almost a little bit spongey. They don’t really taste like shrimp so if you’re worried about a strong fishy taste you won’t find that in these. In my opinion the flavor is pretty light and kind of a like a hybrid between chicken broth and a sour cream and onion chip. Despite being onion garlic & butter flavored there’s not a strong garlic flavor which I think is a good thing and they do taste a little buttery! I love sour cream and onion chips but this flavor just wasn’t doing it for me and I’d much rather just eat sour cream and onion chips. I gave the bag to my parents and both my mom and dad didn’t enjoy them, my dad thought they DID taste fishy and my mom said she wasn’t sure what she didn’t like about them but didn’t like them.
Cost
I paid $9.99 Canadian for the bag 454 gram bag of shrimp chips. Definitely overpriced in my opinion!
Convenience
The bag of chips is resealable which is always a good thing because it keeps the chips fresh for longer! The best before date is almost a year from the date I purchased the shrimp chips. These could be consumed alone or with a dip of your choice
Nutrition
Per 5 and ¾ cup of shrimp chips there are 260 calories, 14 grams of fat, 33 grams of carbohydrates, one gram of fibre, four grams of sugar, one gram of protein and 460 mg of sodium. The ingredients list definitely isn’t the healthiest with palm oil being the second ingredient and sugar the fourth.
I definitely won’t be buying these again for myself but I recognize that a lot of people probably do enjoy these shrimp chips depending on their personal taste.
Taste: 4/10
Cost: 5/10
Convenience: 10/10
Nutrition: 3/10 (you can eat a lot for not that many calories)
Would you try these shrimp chips? If you have already what did you think of them?
My wife bought these Sokusa “Happy Shrimp Chips” at Costco last month because they reminded her of the Indonesian Shrimp chips called “Krupuk.” After sampling them–they did remind us of the taste and texture of Krupuk. I could have eaten the whole bag myself. They go great with Asian food, sandwiches or burgers. They aren’t fishy smelling and aren’t shrimped colored (shrimp pinkish) and you get a lot of chips. I was at Costco today to buy more– but they were sold out. I hope Costco will continue to carry this product.
I like them. You dip them in peanut sauce. Or any sauce you like.
Dang the Western bias is strong in this review ’cause shrimp chips are all over Asia
I just bought these yummy chips. I can’t stop eating them. Delicious
Agree !! So YUMMY !
I love it soo much but be careful! I had hair in mine. black hair to be exact. And i do not have black hair. I am not eating this anymore
I LOVED them at first bite! So light and flavorful! Got TWO bags on my last Costco run as they were put the time before! My peeve is the use of the phrase “wild SHRIMPS”! This tipped me off about their origin as I have found a reluctance of Asians to consult English speakers regarding their communications in English, leading to some preventable embarrassing errors!
I love them! I grew up eating prawn crackers at special family gatherings. So these are a treat! The prawn crackers I grew up with were sold before being fried. You’d drop them the Ritz cracker sized into hot oil and they’d expand to the size of your face! All of us kids would wait around the cooling bowls and try to snatch one before being shoo-ed away. They were usually eaten with Vietnamese slaw in my family.
Akk! I neglected to re-read before posting. *You’d drop the Ritz cracker sized disc into hot oil…*
That sounds like such a fond memory, love it! 🙂
I just need to know where it’s manufactured or made in?
I would reach out to company on Instagram of Facebook and ask 🙂
Wow, thanks for the feedback everyone! Food can be a very subjective and controversial topic. Obviously my posts represent my opinion (and occasionally those of my family and friends). Others will often disagree. I think having you all share your opinions in the comments makes a review much more valuable to people who are thinking about trying a product, so I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. I don’t think there’s such a thing as right or wrong when it comes to a person’s taste in food and I would never judge anyone based on the foods they happen to like or dislike. Since I posted this review, I’ve actually talked to quite a few people about this product – I had no idea how popular shrimp chips were before! Generally, I think Costco does a great job of curating their food selection, so I’m not at all surprised to find out that people who like shrimp chips really enjoy these ones. I think the overall takeaway here is that there are a lot of different opinions on shrimp chips. People will need to try them for themselves to know whether or not they’ll enjoy them!
If you’re also the site moderator, thanks for keeping things real. Too many review sites only permit the author’s narrative in comments. In 2022 I discovered these “shrimp chips.” Skeptical since I’ve had,and like the traditional Asian shrimp chips that are made when you order them in restaurants. Some people drink Asian beer with these. The Sokusa shrimp chips are pretty good,and not strong on any of the highlighted flavoring. I don’t think they’re like the Asian oil fried prawn/shrimp cracker chips beyond the light fluffiness. The Sokusa chips aren’t greasy compared with regular fried chips.The ingredients are not too horrible health wise. As of this feedback,there is a price increase,$12.99.
WOAHHHHH now. Haha I am not sure what to think about this review. Our Costco has had these for a year now. I can eat a whole bag in one sitting! The price is VERY reasonable for how much you get… ebay sellers are selling them for $30/bag right now… As far as the taste goes: THEY’RE SHRIMP CHIPS lol, they’re gonna taste like shrimp. Did you expect anything less?! It just sounds to me that you and your parents have VERY vanilla taste buds :P. This chip IMO is far more superior than any American brand chip. And the Nutrition per serving is way healthier also! Thanks for your review! Browsed a few of your posts and thank you for doing this!
this review is garbage. what’s it like knowing you have no taste buds? these chips were sent by jesus himself to the land of earth as a sign of a higher power. your flippant disrespect of these carefully and artistically crafted happy shrimp chips is APALLING and i hope that you are stuck eating terrible tasting food for the rest of you life.
This Nebula person accuses someone of being racist in a preceding post. Then in this post you make the following comment: “…..and i hope that you are stuck eating terrible tasting food for the rest of you life.” In addition you invoke the name of the Lord Jesus and you fail to capitalize the J in Jesus. The site administrator is entitled to their opinion. Your shallowness and self-righteousness is obvious to all but yourself.
also, @shv0501, no, you don’t have to be asian to enjoy them, you just don’t have to be racist.
So excited to find these family favourites. Not meant as a snack. We eat with our rice dishes. They are meant to be fishy. They are made with shrimp. Hope they continue to carry them.
Agree with the other reviewers. I think this is an acquired taste. The chips themselves actually taste pretty great to me. I’ve even craved them from time to time. I would definitely buy these chips again and again. I think your review should include some sort of explanation of your background or perhaps flavor palate that you’re used to. I think it might persuade some people to miss out on something great. Maybe try more than just two chips before you write a whole review about it.
Haha you’re so right with the “Costco will never carry them again” they’re so bad for that! Products disappear overnight never to return.
I just saw your review and I enjoyed reading. I just bought these today at costco. Though I disagree to some extent. I do like them and no I’m not of Asian decent. I agree on the price point, it’s a tad expensive. I think it could use more garlic flavor. Though what surprised me the most was the portion size. I’m in United States, and the portion size is 40 chips. No wear near 5 cups. I think that 40 chips is more than enough.
I enjoyed reading this review. I was introduced to these a very long time ago and bought them from T&T all the time. They are pricey, just enough prawny, but wonderfully crunchy and then disappear right away. About 10 years ago I was enjoying them at work and a co-worker from China was surprised I was eating them. He said he was so grossed out the first time he opened a bag of potato chips, and described an experience similar to how you described eating the prawn chips. Definitely an aquired taste. At T&T and also H-Mart, they come in as many flavours as potato chips, but also sweet variations.
All in my family LOVE these chips. And yes not healthy at all. Taste like chips tasted in the 70’s. Fat flavor wise.. Taste sooo! good, but ohhh! so bad for you.
We loved these!! Maybe you have to be Asian to not be weirded out by the texture??