Rice Sticks: Hot & Spicy product reviews

Seeing the me:real rice sticks come up as review products, I was intrigued and interested in trying them - having never seen or heard of anything similar. I was not really sure what to expect to be honest! My husband is a hot/spicy/burn your tongue off type of person so I knew I could count on him to give me a honest review of the hotness level in these.

The packing for the rice sticks is an opague plastic package with a very handy resealable top. As the serving size for these is two servings per 50g bag it means you can keep the second serving fresh and airtight - that is if any make it to become a second serving! I did find that the tear line was not particularly great, but nothing that a pair of scissors could not help with.

Looking at the labelling - each different flavour of the rice sticks has a different coloured label - making it easy to distinguish between them. It shows a quite accurate picture of the sticks, and has the nutrional information also. The main ingredient is brown rice - but along with the flavourings of onion powder, kimchi powder and a few others, I did notice sugar has been added - something to be aware of if you are cutting it out, as I did not expect to see sugar as an ingredient.

The rice sticks are an interesting shape and texture - sort of a poppa jack type shape, with a rice cracker texture. I really like the way they sort of dissolve as they hit your mouth, as it makes them very more-ish indeed! I found that although these were described as "hot and spicy" they were not overpowering - I like a medium amount of spice and found these good. I asked our resident spice fanatic and he said he found them to be more on the mild side for him, but agreed that most likely the kids would find them too hot.

These were the favourite of the three flavours we got to taste, and whilst I heartily agree the price is fantastic and the taste is different to other snacks, I do not think I would regularly purchase these. Having tried them I now can recommend to others my favourite, and I now what to expect if I tried the garlic ones in the future.

When it comes to hot and spicy food my family is really not that keen on a lot of spice, however there is such a difference out there in regards to how spicy a food that's classed as hot and spicy really is, and for this reason I decided I would try these out thinking that they may be on the lower scale on this, however I can say I was very, very wrong here so much so that these pretty much set my mouth on fire.

I had a few visitors around when I decided to open up this product and they to were surprised by the level of heat that these produced, and a lot of us agreed that they weren't a product we felt could be eaten on their own so I went to the fridge and got some sour cream which when used with a dip did seem to minimise the heat a little which was good, with 5 of us eating these we agreed that they were something we felt would do a lot more than just 2 serves per pack.

The crunch which these had to them was really nice and I loved how they are such a healthy option compared to many other snack foods that are out on the market, however the taste just wasn't right for me, my friends or my family it seems. Many of us have now tried other variations of the product though and we all have one that we love, and I am sure if you can handle the heat more than us that you would love these too.

With a great resealable package, and a long shelf life these are a great product to have which will keep fresh for ages, which is something I love when buying products, so I have put these into the pantry for on a day when I have a spice loving friend visiting me. Not a flavour which I will be buying myself again but a flavour I am glad to have tried otherwise i'd be left wondering what it was like. A interesting product from a great company which is worth trying if your into hot foods, especially at such a great price.

50 grams doesn't sound like a lot, but when you consider how light these rice products are, you get quite a lot of product for the price. Coming in a resealable plastic pouch, the label claims it holds two servings, but I found they actually last a fair bit longer. Resealable for freshness is important too. Well stored, the product will last around a year, so it makes a pretty good addition to the pantry. It's always nice to have food that you know isn't going to go off before you get a chance to eat it.

The rice sticks come in an interesting shape; long and flat like a tiny plank of wood, where one end has been twisted 90 degrees. The flavour is very much aligned with what you would expect from a rice cracker; airy and light. But this product has a lot more softness to it. Once you bite into it, the structure swiftly disintegrates and collapses as it mixes with saliva.

Flavour-wise, it is labelled with "hot & spicy", and it certainly is. You eat one, you can certainly feel a warmth to it. It isn't overpowering, and would, therefore, be manageable for those with a very soft palate. That being said, the disintegrating nature of the product means it gets into all the nooks and crannies in the mouth, and it will take a while to clear. This has two effects. Firstly, your breath will smell like rice sticks for a long time after eating them, and secondly, the hot & spicy will actually accumulate as you eat the product. The more of them you eat, the hotter and spicier the sensation you will receive.

There is a slight sweetness to the flavour from the sucralose and onion powder, but the only real flavour otherwise comes from the soy, red pepper, and black pepper. It's something I might snack on once in a while, or put out when entertaining friends. But there isn't enough flavour to make me seek them out on a regular basis. With 99 calories per serving, they are reasonably healthy all being considered, but not exciting enough to become a regular snack for me.

Three quarters of our family love hot and spicy foods, especially snacks so we were excited at the prospect of trying Hot and Spicy Rice Sticks. They come in a transparent, thick plastic bag so you can see the rice sticks and the bag is resealable meaning they stay fresh after opening. The red and white label is very clean and features a picture of the rice sticks with some chilli's and some chilli powder. The rice sticks are hot air baked, made with brown sugar and low in sugar.

My 7 year old daughter saw them first and hassled me to try one so I gave her one. She bit into it and said it wasn't hot and then literally 10 seconds later changed her mind so I thought I would try for myself. They are about 5 cm long and 1 cm wide, feel quite light and are nice and crunchy. Initially they tasted quite bland but then a mild spicy chilli aftertaste came through (although I could see why she said it was spicy). There was no discernible taste until after you had finished it which was a shame.
I got my husband to try these as he loves really spicy food but his first words were 'meh'! He thought they were quite underwhelming although he did munch a handful and then say they weren't 'that bad'.

I decided to put them in a bowl with some hummus for a snack with my girls and found that the hummus gave them a lot more flavour and made them a lot more enjoyable. It helped mute the chilli flavour enough so that my spice hating 9 year old enjoyed them. I was grateful for the opportunity to try these but sadly they won't be on our shopping list in the future.

We usually have papadums with curry, but when I was given the opportunity to review this product I immediately started wondering how well they would go instead. I needed to check the heat intensity first as I did not want to suddenly up the spice content to the point where nobody apart from myself would actually eat the meal! So I first tried a single rice stick from the packet to see what it would be like. I am happy to report that the "hot" part of the description places it firmly at the lower end (ie mild) of the spectrum. Spicy these snacks may be, but they are easy to eat to the point that even children, who frequently have a lower tolerance to hotter foods, might enjoy.

And so we went ahead with our planned green curry. I had deliberately selected this one because one of our visitors is prone to mouth ulcers if he eats anything outside the mild range, but he enjoys Thai cuisine and is able to eat a range of foods as long as they don't irritate his mouth. I had made the curry the day before their lunchtime visit (because curry is always better made in advance - it lets the flavours settle) using green curry paste and fresh vegetables from the garden.

I waited till the last minute to add the rice sticks as I was afraid they might go soft once they came in contact with the curry, but I need not have worried. They provided extra crunch and flavour right until the last mouthful. This crispness was reinforced by what happened next.

One of our visitors had overestimated his appetite so he had left about a quarter of his helping on his place, complete with half a dozen sticks. He said he hated leaving food but that it was no reflection on the quality - he had really liked the combination, but was far too full to manage the rest. However, he thought he might reheat it later and finish it for afternoon tea. I put his plate in the fridge, and sure enough, three hours later he felt ready to tackle his leftovers. I reheated the food in the microwave, apologising in advance in case the sticks had gone soft. But no - they had lost the edge of their extreme crunch but were still crisp enough to generate a satisfactory level of crunch. Even when microwaved!

Of our group of four, three of us said we would buy this product again. The fourth person said he does not normally buy snack foods, but if he were to choose something, he would probably go for this one or another flavour from the same range as he was surprised by just how much he had enjoyed it.