Maggi SOS Chili Sauce (China Mini Market, Birmingham Indoor Market) [By @SpectreUK]

I wasn't sure what to think when I saw the two fat red chillies on the front of the bottle of this Maggi SOS Chili sauce. The fact that it had SOS in the title freaked me out a little too. I decided to try this chilli sauce with chips. I do like dipping chips into chilli sauce. I also like to use chilli sauce to spruce up otherwise slightly dull baked beans. Low and behold I was told that I'd be getting some baked beans with my chips and pie tonight too. So I dolloped a good couple of blobs of Maggi SOS Chili sauce in my bowl of baked beans and mixed it into the tomato sauce, and also a good sized blob of this red chilli sauce next to my chips. The sauce was sweet and tangy with a medium hot chilli kick and a hint of tomato. I thought this sauce was very tasty indeed and couldn't stop dolloping it on my plate once I'd started, and was also a bit put out when I finished my chips. It did a great job of jollying up my baked beans in tomato sauce too. Definitely a winner on my plate. :-)
Information on the bottle;
340g per 100ml at 164 calories, with0g of fat and 20g of sugar. Ingredients included; sugar, chillies (18%), vinegar, tomato paste, salt, flavourings, stabiliser; xanthan gum, garlic, and ginger.

By Spectre

Tipsy Chick Pie (PieMinister) [By @Cinabar]

We are big fans of Pieminister at Foodstuff Finds, so when we heard that there was a new variety coming out for the season we couldn’t wait to give it a go. I’ve had quite a few Pieminister pies at home and have re-purchased them as they do taste so much better than the cheaper varieties do. The pastry is always well balanced, firm and tasty, but not too thick. The ingredients contain an interesting mix too, I love their beef and blue cheese edition for example.
The new pie is called “Tipsy Chick” as it has a sauce based with cider and of course the main meat is chicken, but that part is a bit more obvious. Also in the pie are ham, peas and broad beans which does sound like a lovely summery mix. They heat up easily in the oven and make a quick but tasty tea. We had ours with baked beans and chips, just for that authentic feel.

As usual with Pieminister the filling was very generous and there was plenty of goodies inside the pie. The chicken was moist and tasty, and the veggies worked surprisingly well. The sauce base was slightly acidic from the cider, and a had a hint of lemon, but there was a lovely fresh aftertaste of garden mint. This is very much a summer pie, and would go really well with a bowl of fresh salad on a summer’s night, which I wasn’t expecting. The seasoning is so fragrant and delicate, but the chicken and vegetables make it feel substantial but healthy which is the perfect balance. I have to say I was very impressed, and it is certainly a pie I’d want to buy again.
Their other new pie, also with a good hint of cider, is the ScrumPea. It has a cider sauce and is a vegetarian pie filled with peas, asparagus and fennel. It is definitely next on my to try list.

By Cinabar

Jules Destrooper - Belgian Butter Waffles [By @Cinabar]

There are new biscuits from Jules Destrooper, they have launched these Belgian Butter Waffles. These aren’t the kind of waffles that you heat on your coffee cup, they are just a waffle shaped biscuit. Well I think that is the case, I didn’t heat mine and they didn’t seem to have any obvious gooey caramel to melt. I couldn't see any mention of it on the packaging either.
I ripped into the box as I was in need of a biscuit fix, and something strange happened. The biscuits inside were bigger than expected. This never happens, it is always the other way round. You always open the pack and have a moment of disappointment, but with these there was a big smile on my face. The biscuits are fairly thin and even a bit delicate, but still look lovely and big.
They are very light when you bite in, and pretty much melt in the mouth. The texture is magic, so crisp and yet airy. As a fan of interesting textures, these caught my attention. The flavour is sweet, caramel like with lovely buttery tones. They taste rich, but as the flavour only lasts a moment it never builds up to being too heavy.
They melt away so quickly that you really can’t eat just one, you have to reach for a second, even if they do look big. Perhaps a third too…
They would be perfect topping an ice cream, and they are fab on their own with  cup of tea.

Meiji - Rich Matcha Biscuits (Japan) [@NLi10]

When my sister went to Japan recently she brought back a few snack oddities for me to try - and this times theme was Matcha.

We'll look at the Pocky another day - first up is the Meiji.  This is basically a box of green tea Oreos.  And you only get 6 in the box. 

To me this seemed too few. But each was wrapped as a two biscuit portion so I tried one to see what it was like.

The matcha green tea smell is really strong, indeed the box suggests that the filling is 51% tea - and the creme is pretty thick! The biscuit is also unusual, and doesn't have the usual sweetness or crumbliness that I was expecting.

On the first bite you realise that this is no ordinary biscuit - it's almost like a shot of Matcha tea in a dry form. The flavour is really powerful and lingers.  The texture is very creamy and the dark biscuits worked really well, having almost a charcoal like texture to them.

The box didn't go through an import company so I don't have much more info on these, but if you like your tea and flavours very strong then this is a highly recommended snack. And six is plenty - I'm not risking even eating two of these at a time!

Shoyue-Mi (China Mini Market, Birmingham Indoor Market) [By @SpectreUK]

I decided to have a spicy import lunch today all from one of May favourite four import stores in Birmingham. My main was my favourite Nongshim Hot & Spicy Noodle cup with a couple of pieces of bread for dipping, a Smiling Fish Fried Mackerel in Chilli Sauce in an open tin on the side and these Shoyue-Mi Japanese Noodle Series Snack in a bowl. I don't know about you, but when I read comments on packets, especially import packets that are mostly in a different language than English, I take real emphasis from each comment. There was an image of fellow with a massive mouth on the front of the packet stating "crunchy & crispy", which I was glad of, ceasing any concern of opening the packet to find mini wet socks. "Spicy flavour" was next... here's the thing; sometimes packets state spicy and they're just not. This is for a hot and spicy lunch with favourite imports I know are hot and spicy. So let's see if Shoyue-Mi can reach their mark...

On opening the packet you'll see from the photograph that these wheat snacks looked like long slimline bacon fries. I can agree that they were indeed crispy and crunchy, although not super hot in the chilli stakes they did have a mild kick with their spicy flavour. The fat chilli and flame coming out of the guy's big mouth on the front of the packet was a slight exaggeration, however the sweet chilli aftertaste left my mouth tingling. Very difficult to stop eating once I'd started on the bowl I have a feeling these sweet, tangy and spicy chilli wheat strips will find their way back on my lunch menu in the future. If you like the feel of your bacon fries I'd recommend you give these a try, as they might not taste of bacon in any way, but I'm suspecting if you like a spicy alternative I doubt you'll care!

Information on the packet;
SNEK KU In produced by New Star Food Industries in Malaysia. 60g bag at 100g contains 481 calories, with 20g of fat and 30g of sugar. Ingredients included; wheat flour (70%), palm oil, modified tapioca starch, soy sauce (soy beans, wheat flour, salt), chilli (2.5%), basil yeast, sugar, salt, hydrolysed vegetable (soy) protein, flavour enhancer E621 (which is Monosodiumglutamate (MSG)). Contains wheat and soy, and was prepared in a factory that handles milk, crustaceans, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, sesame and sulphites.

By Spectre