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You can’t have just one, so says the ad slogan for a brand of potato chips. No, you absolutely cannot have just one of these! From the moment you open the container and inhale that wonderful ducky, briny aroma, you just have to attack them. Salted egg potato chips! It’s the latest craze that has everyone binge-snacking on today.

Salted duck eggs have been a desirable ingredient in Southeast Asian cuisines, especially in the Philippines. We’ve used itlog na maalat or itlog na pulá on salads, bibingka, puto, etc. But they say the idea of potato chips coated with salted egg started in Singapore. Perhaps so. And now it has arrived at our shores and this deliciously deadly snack has begun to conquer the tastebuds of Filipinos. I have tried 3 brands (to date) of salted egg potato chips. Just to compare (wink, wink).

Made by local food entrepreneurs, these are hand-cut real potatoes coated in melted butter and the yolk of salted duck eggs, then fried to a crisp. Mix in fried, crunchy curry leaves and, for a little kick, some bird’s eye chili (labuyò). The result is rich, salty-sweet-umami taste in a crunchy vehicle that gets you absolutely addicted.

These were the brands I tried — Blue Kitchen, Andy’s Good Eats, and Saporito Gourmet. Each one distinct in their execution of the basic recipe, each one outstanding in its own way. The salted egg coating is generous and strong in all. Blue Kitchen branches are located at the Power Plant Mall, Shangri-La Plaza, Robinsons Magnolia, and NAIA Terminal 3.

Blue Kitchen‘s is a little more straightforward in its flavors. It’s called “Addicting Salted Egg Potato Chips” and that’s no understatement. A pack, which I personally found pretty small but handy enough to bring in as a movie snack, costs around PhP250. Yes, double the price of imported potato chip brands but definitely worth it still.

Andy’s Salted Egg Potato Chips is like a flavor bomb exploding in your mouth with every chip. Each chip is evenly and bountifully coated with the butter-salted egg mixture, giving it that strong and sharp creamy-salty flavor, and yet the chips stay crisp and crunchy. The chili kick can be assertive but not too much — with the addition of sugar, there is a slight sweetness that rounds out the spiciness and gives great balance to the total flavor. I loved this the best for its luxuriously crunchy-silky salted-eggness. The chips are so flavorful that they are almost decadent in their yumminess. However, I can’t eat a lot in one sitting. I chill the jar before attacking the chips again and that’s just pure heaven.

The chips come in a well-sealed 150-gram tub, at PhP 250 each. These are created by Andy Huang who used to be Chief Financial Officer for PAL and now runs a home-based food business called Andy’s Good Eats. He is actually known more for his gourmet dishes such as Hainanese Chicken, Wagyu Oyster Blade Roast, Momofuku-style Pork Buns. And now, his Salted Egg Potato Chips are available at a food stall beside the entrance to Fitness First in the RCBC Plaza. To order this and any of his dishes, you can call 897-1676, 0917-5251272, and 0917-8158631. Get more details at his Facebook page.

Saporito Gourmet Salted Egg Potato Crisps taste as delicious as Andy’s but lighter and, for me, just a little bit saltier. Instead of fried curry leaves, though, Saporito uses basil leaves. Not that that makes a difference in the taste — The crisps are full-flavored without being cloying. Saporito Gourmet says as well that only fresh organic salted eggs are used for their crisps. A jar (no indicated net weight) costs PhP350. Saporito’s food products are available for orders through 0995-6542337. They can be found in Alabang, Marikina, Binondo, Parañaque, and Quezon City, as well as in provincial urban centers in Ilocos, Cebu, Bacolod, and Davao. Saporito also ships/mails orders. Find out more on their Facebook page.

There are probably half a dozen more brands of salted egg potato chips out there. And like a good food soldier that I am, for your sake, I will attempt to attack as many of them as I can and write about them here. For now, I will do my crunches… salted egg potato chip crunches, that is.