Philippine Brand Mango Balls

Edwin Goei

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Origin: Philippines

Found at: 99 Ranch, Irvine

Cost: $1.29

Ingredients:

Selected Mangoes, Sugar & Preserved With Sulfur Dioxide

Why I Bought It:
It's easily the most wholesome Wacky Snacks I've profiled on this feature. Except for the sulfur dioxide--which is a common ingredient in every Philippine brand mango product--the other two ingredients are those that you expect: mangoes and sugar. And when it comes to Wacky Snacks, the less I have to type for the list of ingredients, the less it feels like junk food.

Edwin Goei

​You have, no doubt, seen Philippine Brand mango products elsewhere. Costco sells those oversized plastic bags of dried mangoes that you could conceivably store and use for sustenance for weeks on end when Armageddon comes. This product, however, is designed to be eaten like candy. They're wrapped individually and crusted with sugar.

These are most likely made from the smaller cuts of the fruit; those that are too tiny to be used for the proper dried mango bags. Pureed into paste and reformed into balls, they're the mango equivalent of tater tots.

Tasting Notes:
If you're enamored of Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit Leathers or any of their facsimiles, you will love this. It's naturally chewy, almost as sticky as taffy, and has a tart finish similar to those American snacks. These, however, start off with a sugar-crystal crunch. You will see it immediately. Its sugar crust of practically glimmers. And it's this added sweetness that keeps you going.

Just like tater tots, you will find it difficult to eat just one, or even just a few.