Tortilla Chips

I love tortilla chips! I grew up eating them, both at home and at restaurants, where they are often served as complimentary appetizers along with a salsa or other dip. The brand that I ate as a child no longer exists, but it is not difficult to find decent chips in Texas. When I visit these days, I usually get H-E-B Unsalted Restaurant Style Corn Tortilla Chips at the H-E-B grocery store in my rural hometown. These chips have a great flavor as well as texture, and they are very crispy. They are unsalted and thin, two properties that I think are essential in a good tortilla chip. Such chips allow you to emphasize the flavor of the sauce! I usually add a dash of salt to my pico de gallo, for example, to emphasize the flavors of the fresh vegetables. The effect is ruined with salted chips, especially since salted chips tend to use way too much salt for my taste.

Living in Japan, I really miss good tortilla chips. One can find some pretty decent chips, but they tend to be quite expensive. Kaldi, a large chain of stores that sells coffee as well as some imported foods, sells some pretty decent tortilla chips called Taco’s Chips, for example. I would probably even purchase these unsalted chips in Texas if they were sold at a decent price and my usual brand was unavailable! Unfortunately, the price is too high, so I very rarely buy any.

Thankfully, Costco sells some Organic Tortilla Chips at a more affordable rate. These chips have way too much salt, and the texture is more like a Doritos chip (without the artificial flavor) than a real tortilla chip. I would never purchase such chips in Texas! It is the brand that I eat most often these days, however, due to the relatively low cost. (The often paired Organic Salsa is much better than the chips, by the way.)

Costco Japan currently does not have any tortilla chips in stock, and I finished my personal stock a few weeks ago! The timing is very unfortunate, as we currently have many fresh vegetables from our garden. It is extravagant, but I think I might go buy a bag of Kaldi chips… The contents of the small bag will disappear in no time.