Review: Nong Shim Shrimp Crackers

Last Saturday night I stayed home with an upset stomach. At one-something in the morning, Christy and Hayden and Dave and Adam Mistretta came through the door, woke me up and greeted me with some Budweiser Clamato. That stuff was kinda gross. It made my stomach feel worse. I took a few shots of Jagermeister and that helped out. I didn’t know this, but apparently Clamato really has clams in it.

I think it was this seafood beer that prompted Hayden to crack open this bag of shrimp crackers that Christy had bought for me some weeks ago. Mitten had one. I had a handful. On to the review!

Appearance: Looked kinda like Cheetos, but not orange and it didn’t leave powder all over my hands. They were more like Andy Capp fries, but shorter, thicker and twisted into a tight spiral. They didn’t look like shrimp.

Smell: They smelled like nothing at all at first, but closer examination left a smell somewhat similar to that of a potato boiled in fishbowl water.

Taste: They tasted like fucking gross. I was expecting something like shrimp ramen. Shrimp ramen is my favorite ramen, but it doesn’t taste like shrimp. It just tastes like spices or something. Shrimp crackers don’t taste like shrimp either. They taste like rotten seafood.

Mouthfeel: It was rigid, but still soft. Like a Cheezit, I could let it soften in my mouth and then crush it between my tongue and the roof of my mouth. This also helped to savor the flavor.

Eatability: This is one snack I could literally eat just one of. They went down fast, so I could have eaten a lot more if they tasted reasonably okay.

As a novelty snack, I was happy to try the shrimp crackers. As for a real snack, they’re just not for me. I could picture people absolutely loving these things. If you are a real fan of seafood, you should give them a try.

I would not recommend buying these as a snack for your pets. Mitten would lick the shrimp cracker, then lay her head down for a minute, and then take a few more licks, then lay her head down. She kept doing this for a while. I thought she was acting weird, so I took it away from her.

I would recommend bringing these for potlucks or barbecues. Don’t show the bag. Just dump them in a bowl and set them out.