If you're bored with the same old snacks or can't handle the salt and sugar content of American treats, go Asian and experience a pleasant shock to the palate that may find you addicted.Different regions of Asia offer a variety of snacks that cater to local tastes or the abundance of specific food sources.
If you prefer the snacks from a specific region of Asia, or you are a native of an area and miss the tastes of home, you may feel that these snacks are inaccessible unless you live in a big city with a thriving Asian population. Luckily, you're in the age of the net, and you can find Asian snacks online from virtually any part of Asia.
Snacks from the sea
Many Asian countries depend on the sea for a large part of their food supply, and this fondness for products from the ocean also extends to snack foods.
Seaweed
Although many non-Asians would normally think of seaweed only as the grotesque slimy plants that wrap around your ankles when swimming in the ocean, they don't balk at eating sushi and sashimi wrapped in dried seaweed.
Seaweed snacks are hugely popular in Asian countries such as Korea and Japan, and you can find snack packs of thin sheets of dried seaweed online in a wide variety of flavors.
Seaweed snacks are so thin that they practically melt in your mouth, while still providing the satisfying crunch that is a staple of American snacks.
Seaweed is also a source of vitamins and minerals, including B-12, which is usually only found in animal products. This makes seaweed beneficial to vegetatrians and vegans who may wish to increase their intake of B-12 naturally.
Dried seafood
If you would frequent open markets in Southeast Asia, you will see rows of dried squid-type creatures with long tentacles hanging from market stalls.
You can buy dried shredded cuttlefish, as well as other dried sea creatures of the sea such as brine shrimp, on multiple sites online.
Asian fruit snacks
While you can find popular, but familiar, fruit snacks online such as dried persimmons and Korean pears, you can also see snacks from fruits with which you may not be acquainted, including:
Jackfruit
This sweet fruit can be found dried on in the form of chips, such as potato chips but made from jackfruit. The fruit itself is huge, oval in shape and weighing several pounds. Dried jackfruit or jackfruit chips are good ways to enjoy the taste and avoid the work of cutting it and pulling out the flesh.
Durian
This fruit is very popular in Southeast Asia, and is usually either loved or hated because of its smell. The smell of fresh durian can be overwhelmingly bad, comparable to a dumpster in the summer heat, but the creamy flesh is irresistible to its admirers.
The flesh is inside a shell that is covered with spiny thorns, making access to the flesh even more difficult.
Luckily for admirers or adventurous foodies, you can buy durian snacks online, out of their protective shell and free of the forbidding smell, with just enough of the allure to satisfy durian enthusiasts and maybe enough to tempt new converts to try the real thing when they can.
Fresh durian can be bought online, although it is rather expensive because of shipping costs. However, the expense may be justified just to have the full durian experience.
