Snack Attack: Pass the Weed

Now I can finally stop buying rice crackers. Really I was just doing it so I could suck the nori off them. All hail my new favorite snack: Shirakiku Korean Style Seasoned Seaweed.



I bought 'em yesterday at the Japanese grocery in my 'hood. The 3-packs were on special in a bin, and I didn't really pay them much mind until this 11-year-old gringo kid (or whatever you call us in Japanese... gaijin, I guess) walked over with his dad and a shopping cart and piled about 10 of them in. The dad said, "Are you sure?" And the kid was like, "YES, Dad. They're good!" I recognized the look in that kid's eyes. It's the look of the food-obsessed. We're born that way. So I grabbed me a pack.

For all the things that are wrong with schools in California, you gotta like the fact that this kid probably sits by a Korean or Japanese-heritaged kid at lunch and they trade stuff. I wish someone would have given me a delicious seaweed snack back in the day. Nobody wanted to trade with me, though. Because my mom thought sliced sunchoke was a great dessert. But I digress.

So anyway, I had a feeling these would be some sort of nori-like snack and I was right. Each pack contains a little plastic tray of toasty delights! Crispy and seasoned just right. MMMMMM!



Go ahead... lick your monitor!



But be CAREFUL. I was so excited to taste that I slipped one of the... feuilles... in my mouth in its entirety. It immediately adhered to the roof of my mouth as nori is wont to do. I gagged and made like a dog eating peanut butter for a good 15 seconds and finally had to stick my finger in there and dislodge. Gringochoke. But no biggie. All went deliciously well after that. I broke the rest in half before inserting.

Quick, they're on sale here!