My name’s Danny Palumbo, and I’m from Pennsylvania—home of Herr’s, Utz, Snyder’s, Wise, Middleswarth, Martin’s, Gibble’s, and many more. In short, this is where chips live, baby. And although I no longer live in the Keystone state, I still have a profound admiration for all things potato chips. In this column I will be reviewing some of the best the country has to offer. Welcome to Chip Country.
Salted egg yolk snacks are on the come up—cookies, wafers, paste, syrup, and seasoning powder are all available with a few simple clicks. And, as Dennis Lee points out, this is the year of salted egg yolk flavor, although I would like to quietly go on record saying that I think Torani Salted Egg Yolk Coffee Syrup definitively tastes like shit. That’s the problem with something new and exciting like salted egg yolk flavor hitting the American zeitgeist: Many companies will try to capitalize on that craze, and most of them will fail. But you know what’s never going to fail? Salted egg yolk potato chips.
Dennis writes that Irvins Salted Egg Salmon Skin snacks deliver the goods, and I was snapping along as I read his review. I’ve tasted them before, and they are, without a goddamn doubt, one of my favorite snacks on the market today. Crispy, fatty, crunchy, and intensely savory, salted egg salmon skin snacks are elite, the type of snack you find yourself eating ravenously until you become ill. Fish skin is arguably the best part of a salmon filet. But how do Irvins Salted Egg Potato Chips stack up? Let’s dive in.
What is Irvins?
Irvins Salted Egg Potato Snacks originated in Singapore when Irvin Gunawan began experimenting with the formula back in 2014. The snacks became a hit in Southeast Asia and eventually made their way over to the States. The website explains that the snacks are made in small batches with real duck egg yolks, and also that they’re made without wheat flour, binders, or fillers. In short, this appears to be an honest, well-made product using dope ingredients. That’s all fine, but how do they taste?
What do salted egg potato chips taste like?
Very fucking good. And they’d better—I paid $11 for a bag at a liquor store in Highland Park. Man, these are just absolutely jacked with rich, buttery flavor. They taste nothing of eggs; instead, it’s like God designed the most tasty, savory potato chip imaginable. It’s giving me Grandma Utz vibes without the distinct beefy flavor.
Now, Irvins chips don’t pack that awesome, Kettle-cooked crunch that you might value (I do), but they more than make up for it with a unique, bold meatiness that’s in a class of its own.
You know what the best use for Irvins might be? Throw a few of these umami bombs on a sandwich. Chips on a sandwich is an American institution worth saluting, and these would immediately enhance any cold cut combo or grilled cheese with their robust flavor and light crunch. Or how about using them to enhance a classic tuna salad? Whatever you do, it’s all bonus flavor.
And while your gripe might be that Irvins Salted Egg Potato Chips are way too expensive, I would argue that you aren’t meant to chow down on the whole bag at once. One serving contains 56% of your daily value of cholesterol, and also 27% of your daily saturated fat. That’s bonkers, even for potato chips. There are four servings per bag, which you should probably take down one at a time. What better way to moderate, though, than to use these chips as a flavoring agent or an ingredient? Chips on a sandwich, dude—it needs to be done more often.