“Very Spicy” chips from Koikeya.
Karamucho, which was named after the words “Very” in Spanish and “Spicy” in Japanese, has been one of the top seller chips in Japan. Because of impressive design, many of you must have seen them in the supermarket or souvenir shops.
Nevertheless, many of you must have avoided buying this product, because it obviously contains animal-derived ingredients. But don’t worry, the great news is that now there is a Halal Karamucho available to buy in the supermarket! We would like to tell you how you can find one today.
How can we find Halal Karamucho?
It is very easy. Just try to look for Karamucho made in Vietnam! Koikeya started importing the products made in Vietnam and selling them in Japan to let customers compare the taste.
This is the ingredients of Japanese version. It clearly says the chips contain chicken and pork extract.
On the other hand, Vietnam version does not have any animal-derived ingredients.
Judging from ingredients, Vietnam version does not contain any haram ingredients.
What about risk of contamination?
Yes, we have to consider risk of contamination as well. We have got in touch with Koikeya and confirmed if the product is Halal or not. Unfortunately, their answer was that they are not certified as Halal.
However, as they do not contain neither alcohol nor animal-derived ingredients, Karamucho produced in Vietnam is exported to Middle East, including Saudi Arabia! If the product is consumed in Saudi Arabia, we have no doubt that the product is Halal.
What are the differences between two types of Karamucho?
We have bought 4 bags of Karamucho and checked what are the differences.
Flat Karamucho
We cannot tell the difference from how they look. The size and thickness all looked like very similar. However, the taste was not the same.
Japanese version was saltier with harder texture, while Vietnam version is sweeter and softer. This was actually very interesting because Japanese people are not that good at eating spicy food, but the taste sold in Japan was hotter.
The contents were much smaller for the Japanese version. It has only 55g while Vietnamese one has 80g.
Fine Stick Karamucho
It is the same. We cannot tell a difference from how it looks. Probably the color is darker for Vietnamese version.
The interesting thing was that Japanese version was a lot spicier than Vietnamese one. This is probably they are using more powder on the fine sticks than flat chips, so that hotness is increased.
Where can we find Vietnamese Karamucho?
They are normally available at normal Japanese supermarkets or in Don Quijote. As of June 2023, there was no Vietnamese Karamucho in Amazon.
As they have just started importing Vietnamese Karamucho, we are not sure how long they will keep them in the stock. If you are lucky to find one while in Japan, grab one and enjoy the taste!