I’m honored and ecstatic to finally announce that I’m a partner for the exclusive launch of IRVINS Salted Egg Salmon Fish Skin chips in North America!
IRVINS Salted Egg chips turned a signature Salted Egg Crab dish, which became a local River Valley phenomenon, into some #DangerouslyAddictive snacks. As they say on their website,
I had the privilege of travelling to Singapore for a few days in 2018, as its proximity to Guangzhou (where my dad grew up) made it an ideal getaway during my summer in China. Singapore was certainly on my bucket list, primarily for the hawker stands. But WOW, I was completely blown away by the country (island city-state?) - I would take the opportunity to live there in a heartbeat. Okay, probably with further research, too, but you get the point - Singapore felt like home! The humidity would likely be the greatest turn off for most, but I’m pretty indifferent to it. It didn’t feel humid when I was there, so I may just not have that weather association to Singapore, though.
Being Chinese-American, I feel seen in Singapore, and since I speak English, it’s pretty easy to get around. I hope I can return one day.
Now, back to the stuff about deez chips! You know the basic origin story of IRVINS, and the company now has brick and mortar stores in Southeast Asia. IRVINS is finally ~making their way to the US~, and small businesses, like BOPOMOFO Café are partnering with the company to distribute their wonderful products!
BOPOMOFO represents the “Chinese ABCs”. The café seeks to unite and uplift the Asian-American community through food, drink, design, and hospitality - not too far from what I hope food can do for the people I’m with!
Their food and drink celebrate the identity many Asian-Americans struggle with their whole lives: being too Asian to do or be x, y, or z, but not Asian enough to feel fully accepted by family members “in the motherland”. Dishes, like mapo tofu tater tots, combine the foods you ate at home with the ones from your school cafeteria. Homemade lunches were “too exotic” or “smelly”, yet you craved those flavors when you no longer brought them to school in fear of being made fun of. You start to get used to the chicken fingers and fries at school, and heck, you even start to like them. And that’s okay! BOPOMOFO embraces that and lets you know you’re not alone when you’re in their company. I’ve never eaten there, but Antonia goes to college very close by, and she got the opportunity to meet Phil, BOPOMOFO’s co-owner that you may recognize from Wong Fu Productions, a true pioneer in Asian-American media. Antonia raves about their food, and I trust her taste. BOPOMOFO has become integral to the San Gabriel Valley (the 626 and beyond) community, and they’re aware of the platform they have and are using it for good.
So, they’ve partnered with IRVINS as one of the limited distributors of the Salted Egg Salmon Fish Skins! The fish skins are extremely popular in Southeast Asia, but the salmon fish skin was created specifically for American and Canadian taste buds.
They are, indeed, #DANGEROUSLYADDICTIVE. I am not a huge fish skin person, but these chips could change that for me. The buzz word, umami, is the best way to describe these.
They’re made with the following ultra-fresh ingredients, straight from their website:
Some might be frightened by the idea of a fried fish skin, but PLEASE don’t knock it until you try it. I know some of my followers may be vegetarian or vegan, so I understand that this product may not fit all dietary restrictions. But if you don’t have any, give them a shot - they’re a true delicacy worth every bite. Enter my giveaway or order them from BOPOMOFO today. My giveaway closes December 16th at 5:00PM EST, and you can enter as many times as you’d like by tagging a different friend in separate comments. Sharing my giveaway post on your story will also grant an extra entry! Full details on the post.
📣GO SUPPORT IRVINS AND BOPOMOFO📣
See you soon,
Carissa 😊