Category: Asia

Universal Yums is a company that offers snacks from around the world once per month on a subscription basis. One of our favorite reasons for travel is to sample the local cuisine wherever we go, this is a great way to do so vicariously from your kitchen table. This month’s selection was from Thailand and as it was our first month in the program Alex was super excited.

The first item on the list was Coconut Snack Bites. These coconut cookies were nice vanilla flavored coconut cookies. Alex 7. Joe 6.

Next up was Almond Chocolate Tivoli Select. Thailand does not as a country consume much chocolate but when they do their number one snack is the American Kit-Kat bar. This is the Thai version of a Kit-Kat. Alex loved it and rated it a 9 out of 10. My score 6. Rita 8.

Tom Yum Goong Big Roll seaweed snack was not Alex’s favorite. I found it to have a strong seaweed flavor and although Maine dulse is a favorite snack of mine I did not rate it much higher. Alex 5. Joe 6.

Spicy Pineapple Juzi-C is a spicy, chewy pineapple fruit roll-up. I thought it was very good, not very spicy but with good pineapple flavor. Alex did not like the combination as much. Alex 6. Joe 8.

Japanese Curry Snack Jack is a broad bean based snack. Japanese Curry is a thick rich stew of brown gravy, meat and potatoes which flavors this snack. Alex quite enjoyed them while I did not care for the combination of flavors. Alex 8. Joe 5.

The Greenday Jackfruit Chips is made from the tropical jackfruit. I did not care for them and Alex liked the relatively bland flavor. Alex 7. Joe 5.

The Tao Kae Noi Chicken Larb Seaweed Snack. Larb is a “meat salad” made of chopped meat seasoned with chili, lime juice, fish sauce and shallots. The predominate flavor for this snack is the seaweed however. I thought it was a very pleasant crunchy seaweed snack albeit with a strong aftertaste. Alex 8 Joe 8.

The Mango Sour Punk Chewy candy was moderately sour with a nice fruit flavor not quite as good as the Juzi-C but still very good. Alex 5. Joe 8. As you can see Alex is not a big fan of sour.

The Jack n’ Jill Combo is very similar to American style candy bars with chocolate covered wafers and crispy rice. Alex 8. Joe 5. Rita 7.

The Mango Sticky Rice was exceptional. Sweet, sticky and gummy. Alex and Rita did not enjoy the texture at all. Alex 4. Joe 10. Rita 3. This is an item I have seen on Asian Street food videos numerous times and this did not disappoint.

The Hanami Hot Chili Prawn Crackers recall the prawn flavored snacks that you see in all sorts of Asian markets. They must be very popular from the frequency that you see these prawn flavored crackers. I found them to be not very spicy and not to have much of a seafood flavor. Alex took the leftovers to school and did not get glowing reviews. Alex 8. Joe 5.

The Coconut Cream-O Choco Plus cookies were the star of the box. The cookies had a smooth buttery flavor and the chocolate – coconut filling was rich and creamy. I would say that this was not only the best item in this box but one of the best cookies I have ever had from a package. I will miss not being able to buy these locally. Alex 6. Joe 10. Rita 10.

Don’t let Alex’s expression sway you, it really was delicious.

The Greenday Wasabi Onion Chips were one of the more unusual items. The chips were not rings as you might expect but whole segments of small onions. They were not very crisp but had more of a raw onion texture. The wasabi flavor was very pronounced. I like wasabi both for sushi and on flavored snacks so I found these quite enjoyable. Alex 4. Joe 8.

As you can see the strong wasabi flavor was not to Alex’s liking 🙂

The Shiitake Mushroom Snack Jack was a green pea based snack. I did not detect much mushroom flavor and found the snack to be quite ordinary. Alex 6. Joe 5.

The Peanut Chips were Yam and Rice based with a heavy sprinkling of peanuts. I am thinking there was peanut butter incorporated into the chip as well as the peanut flavor was extremely pronounced. These reminded me of the peanut brittle candy my father used to like. If you enjoy peanuts I think you will like these. Alex 5. Joe 4.

I was excited to finally have a potato based snack when we got to the Jack n’ Jill Potato Rings. These tiny little rings were flavored with sweet chili sausage! Unfortunately they did taste a lot like hot dogs! Not a flavor I like in a snack chip. Alex 7. Joe 5.

The Banana Chips with Strawberry Powder are very similar to the plantain chips we can find at many international markets here in the states. I did not detect any strawberry flavor. Alex 9. Joe. 6.

Last up were three different hard candies. The first of which was the Zour Bomb Cola. This sour cola candy had a sherbet filling. The candy was extremely sour overpowering every other flavor aspect the candy may have had. Alex. 3. Joe 4.

The Heartbeat Salty Lime Candy was a very pleasant hard candy. Alex 10. Joe 7.

The last item in the box was the XO Lemon Iced Tea Candy. True to its name this was a tea flavored hard candy. Alex 10. Joe 5.

I have to say that our first box from Universal Yums was a resounding success and I recommend it to anyone especially those who like food and travel. The booklet that comes with the box is interesting and informative. If you have young children this is a great way to introduce them to the world and other countries and cultures. As for the snacks from Thailand I am not the biggest fan but found them interesting if not to my taste for the most part. Maybe this is why Thai people are so skinny and healthy; their food is great and healthy and their snacks are not very good!! We are looking forward to our next country next month.

Alex’s average score for the box 6.75
Favorite – Heartbeat Salty Lime Candy & XO Lemon Iced Tea Candy (10)
Least Favorite – Zour Bomb Cola Candy (3)

Joe’s Average rating for the box 5.75
Favorite – Mango Sticky Rice & Coconut Cream-O Choco Plus (10)
Least Favorite – Zour Bomb Cola Candy, XO Lemon Iced Tea Candy & Peanut Chips (4)