What Are the Best Asian Snacks? A Guide to Sweet and Savory Treats

Finding the best Asian snacks requires a lot more than researching top sellers. You need to consider your tastes, health, and common needs. We created this post to expose you to the diversity of Asian snacks and help you pick the perfect snacks for you. Our guide will cover all kinds of snacks from Asia, including those with sweet, savory, and spicy flavors. By the end, you should have all you need to make the most informed decision. What Kind of Snacks Are Savory? A savory snack can best be described as moderately salty and spicy but not sweet. They are typically baked, fried, or roasted before seasoning. Examples include potato chips, shrimp chips, roasted chickpeas, and almond nuts. Due to their preparation methods, these snacks tend to be crunchy. In Asia, savory snacks get their salty and spicy tastes from the addition of common seasonings like soy sauce, seaweed, and spices. These are staple ingredients that can be found in most Asian households. Soy sauce is a cooking ingredient and liquid condiment commonly used in East Asian cuisine. It’s made by the fermentation of soybeans, salt, brine, and other ingredients. Soy sauce is an easy way to add savory flavors to bland food, including snacks. Edible seaweed is another popular Asian recipe ingredient. Dried and crushed seaweed brings both savory and umami flavors to snacks. Asian spices are commonly used to give snacks a savory and spicy taste. We're talking about common spices such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), Chinese Five Spice, turmeric, and Japanese Seven Spices (shichimi togarashi). Some other Asian ingredients used to season savory snacks are oyster sauce, rice wine, liquid aminos, vinegar, and fish sauce. Crunchy and Spicy: Must-Try Savory Snacks from Asia Now that you know how savory snacks came to be, let’s explore the most notable types from Asia. Potato Chips Fried or baked slices of potatoes are seasoned with savory ingredients to create crispy treats. Chips dominate the Asian snack market thanks to top brands like Lay’s, Pringles, and Cheetos. One of the most unique variants is called shrimp chips, a savory snack often associated with Calbee’s Kappa Ebisen. Shrimp Crackers Also known as prawn crackers, these snacks originated in Southeast Asia. They are made by sun-drying and deep-frying raw shrimps or prawns. In South Korea, Nongshim is famous for its brand of prawn crackers, Saeukkang. Seaweed Crisps Umami-rich crisps can be made by baking rice flour and coating the crispy snack with powdered seaweed. Seaweed crisps may also refer to seaweed-coated potato chips. Rice Crackers Nearly every East Asian country has its own version of the rice cracker. It consists of baked or fried rice flour seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar, spices, or other savory ingredients. Japan has a wide range of traditional rice cracker variations, including arare, senbei, and kaki no tane. The Best Snack in China: Iconic Savory Delights China is home to some of the most delicious and versatile savory snacks in the world. Not all of them make it to your local grocery store in the U.S., but you can find some iconic options online if you know what you’re looking for. China has its fair share of rice crackers known as xian bei. They’re made with baked or fried rice flour and seasoned with sweet and salty ingredients. Another Chinese classic is spicy peanuts. The peanuts are often combined with dried chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorn. This one is vastly underrated but is the perfect snack to pair with drinks. The next savory Chinese delight we’ll mention is basically unconventional but cool. This is the century egg crisp, made by preserving eggs in a pasty mixture of clay, salt, quicklime, ash, and rice husks. The eggs may come from chickens, ducks, or quails. They are kept in the mixture for weeks or even months until you decide to serve them. One other snack worth mentioning is the savory mooncake of China. This Mid-Autumn Festival snack is a pastry dish filled with lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste, mixed nuts, or other traditional ingredients. Healthy Savory Asian Snacks You Can’t Miss Health-conscious snack lovers will definitely want some guilt-free savory delights to indulge in. We’ve got you covered with some top-tier suggestions. Dried seaweed is probably the most common healthy snack around. You can enjoy it roasted or flavored. The two main types of edible seaweed snacks are nori and wakame. They are rich in various vitamins and iodine, which can prevent goiter. We can’t talk about health snacks without highlighting the highly addictive edamame crisps. Made by salting the pods of immature soybeans, edamame is a popular Asian snack. It’s a rich source of vitamins, minerals, protein, and iron. Mixed nuts are perfect for health-conscious snacking. You can make some by combining almonds, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, and cashews. Roast, blanch, salt, and cook them anyway you like. Wasabi peas make healthy and spicy snacks, albeit with a slight twist. In the middle of all that spice lies a floral taste that enhances the snacking experience. What Is the Best Sweet Snack? Sweet snacks tend to have a higher sugar content than savory or spicy food. However, their sugary nature does not necessarily make them unhealthy. Traditional sweet snacks in some Asian countries are made from popular ingredients, some of which we will discuss in this section. Red bean is arguably the most used sweet filling in the East, particularly in Japan, Korea, and China. The most common way to use it is to boil the red beans and mash them into a paste. This paste, known as anko (adzuki bean paste), can be used in desserts and other snacks. Matcha-flavored treats are no longer limited to Asian cuisine. People from all over the world are becoming aware of the health benefits of matcha (green tea powder). Many confectioneries coat, dip, or stuff their desserts and snacks in matcha to balance out the sweet flavors. In Japan, the foundation of traditional sweets (wagashi) is mochi, or Japanese rice cake. It’s a stretchy round ball made from glutinous rice. Popular Sweet Treats from Asia Below is our list of must-try, irresistibly sweet snacks from Asian manufacturers. Enjoy! Pocky Pocky is a Japanese sweet treat that features chocolate-coated biscuit sticks. Only one part of the stick is coated with chocolate, leaving the other part free to hold without causing a mess. Owned by Ezaki Glico, Pocky is a household name in Japan, and the chocolate used comes in various flavors. ==https://www.bokksumarket.com/collections/all-asian-pocky-bokksu-market/products/glico-pocky-chocolate-fermented-butter-20-pieces== Hi-Chew Morinaga created Hi-Chew in 1975. It’s a fruit candy with a white exterior and colored interior. The fruity flavors are usually packed in the interior of the candy. Hi-Chew’s texture is too soft to be a hard candy and too hard to be chewing gum. Kubota Kubota is Japan’s best seller of mochi products. They sell rice cakes coated and flavored with various tasty flavors, including strawberry, peach, red bean, and chestnut. ==https://www.bokksumarket.com/collections/all-asian-kubota-bokksu-market/products/chestnut-daifuku-mochi== Milkita This is a popular brand of creamy shake candies that’s gaining a lot of fame in Asia and other parts of the world. It can be enjoyed by both kids and adults of any age. Common flavors include vanilla, honeydew, strawberry, and chocolate. Asian Desserts Turned Snacks Some of the traditional desserts in Asian countries can be enjoyed as snacks. These sweet and savory delights make up a sizable portion of the local diet in their respective countries. You can even eat them as light breakfast. Let’s explore a few examples. Dorayaki is a dessert-inspired Japanese treat made by stuffing two mini pancakes with azuki bean paste. Taiyaki is another famous Japanese treat. It’s a fish-shaped cake often sold on the streets of major districts. Other notable mentions are Chinese mooncakes, Korean sweet rice cakes, Chinese almond cookies, caramel popcorn, and Japanese castella. Healthier Sweet Asian Snacks Contrary to what some might think, there are many healthier sweet snack options for you to eat. These treats have low sugar and calorie content, allowing more people to enjoy them without worrying about their health. Sweet, healthy Asian snacks include dried fruits, sesame bars, and low-sugar mochi treats What Is the Most Popular Snack in Asia? We should have a look at the regional favorites in some of the Asian countries with a vast snack culture. In Japan, rice crackers, shrimp chips, mochi, and chocolate are some of the most popular snacks. The people of Taiwan are fond of boba milk tea and fruit jelly. Koreans love their spicy ramyun (ramen in Japan), dried squid, and almond nuts. We can’t leave out China, where rice crackers, stinky tofu, and pancakes are staple desserts. Why Are Asian Snacks So Unique? Asian snacks blend traditional flavors with modern innovations, creating one-of-a-kind treats. Hence, they will always appeal to a global market. You can satisfy all of your Asian snack desires with the help of Bokksu Market. Simply explore our handpicked Asian snack collection, choose the best products for you, and fill in other details. We’ll deliver to you in no time.