Edwin Goei

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Origin: Indonesia

Found at: Freshia, Tustin

Cost: $1.99

Ingredients:

Wheat flour, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Palm Oil), Skim Milk Powder, Non-hydrogenated Shortening (Palm Oil), Condensed Milk, Whole Milk Pwder, Cocoa Powder, Lactose, Malt Extract, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate), Coffee, Artificial Chocolate and Cappuccino Flavor, Natural Vanilla Flavor, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin, Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids), Salt.

Why I Bought It:
What does this remind you of? Does it initiate a certain Pavlolian response from you nicotine junkies? If the name and font choice doesn't already bear a striking (pun intended) resemblance to Lucky Strike, there's the product itself: it looks exactly like cigs.

Edwin Goei

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Origin: Japan

Found at: 99 Ranch, Irvine

Cost: $2.99 per box

Ingredients:

Meiji Mletyblend Creamy Chocolat

Sugar, Vegetable Fat (Palm Oil, Sunflower Oil, Shea Oil), Cacao Mass, Whole Milk Powder, Cocoa Butter, Skim Milk Powder, Cream Powder, Cocoa Powder, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Lactose, Butter Oil, Artificial Flavor.

Meiji Meltyblend Fruity Strawberry

Sugar, Vegetable Fat (Palm Oil, Sunflower Oil, Shea Oil), Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Cacao Mass, Dried Strawberry, Lactose, Cream Powder, Cocoa Pwder, Trehalose, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin Sucrose Fatty Acid Esters), Cheese Powder, Skim Milk Powder, Artificial Flavor, Apple Paste, Antioxidant (V.C., V.E.) Vegetable Pigment.

Why I Bought It:
It wasn't because of any cartoon characters, or some unintentionally funny Engrish. This time, I bought these boxes of Meiji Meltyblends because it looked, for a lack of a better term, good. And the name reeled me in from the start, describing exactly what I hoped the product in the picture would taste like.

Edwin Goei

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Origin: Korea

Found at: Freshia, Tustin

Cost: $0.50

Ingredients:

Noodles:
Wheat Flour, Potato Starch, Modified Potato Starch, Palm Oil, Corn Flour, Salt, D-Sorbital Solution, Soybean Oil, Lecithin, Calcium, Sugar.

Powdered Soup:
Salt, Glucose, Dextrin, Beef Extract Powder, Soy Sauce Powder (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Onion Powder, Whey Powder, Garlic Powder, Mushroom Powder, Black Pepper Powder, Corn Oil, Beef Flavor (Artificial Flavor)

Edwin Goei

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Origin: Thailand

Found at: 99 Ranch, Irvine

Cost: $2.99

Ingredients:

Anchovy, Palm Oil, Salt, Sugar, Sesame, Sodium Metabisulfite.

Photo by Edwin Goei

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Origin: Korea

Found at: Freshia, Tustin

Cost: $2.50

Edwin Goei

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Origin: India

Found at: Radhika Sweets and Spices, Tustin

Cost: $2.99

Grace Le

Everyone Says Good Good Eat

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Name: Everyone Says Good Good Eat

Origin: Taiwan

Found at: Arirang Supermarket, Garden Grove

Cost: $2.50

Ingredients:
Wheat Flour, Potato Starch, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Salt), Yeast Powder, Palm Oil, Garlic, White Pepper, Black Pepper, Chili Powder.

Why I Bought It:
First of all, who doesn't love munching on dry ramen? Second, these babies aren't just good... they're good². Finally, technically I am a component of everyone and therefore this snack had my approval before I even tried it. Bizarre, isn't it?

I also noticed the incredulous expression on the little girl's face. Could she perhaps be warning me that I was about to fall into some sort of foul tasting trap? I just had to find out. The fact that this product does not contain any artificial ingredients or preservatives was just the icing on the cake. 

Dave Lieberman

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Origin: Korea

Found at: Freshia Market, Tustin

Cost: A 75g sack costs $2.99 here, ₩2500 (about $2.19) in Korea

Ingredients:
Rice grtis [sic], blueberry chocolate (sugar, vegetable fat, whey powder, whole milk powder, blueberry concentrate powder, soy bean), vegetable fat, cellulose, marine algae calcium.

Edwin Goei

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Origin: Korea

Found at: Freshia, Tustin

Cost: $3.99 for a six pack

Ingredients:
Water, Glutinous Rice, Sugar, Malt, Ginger.

Why I Bought It:
I'm ashamed to say this, but it was because my friend saw it on the supermarket shelf and said to me, "I know that's rice in the picture of that drink, but it looks like maggots," to which I laughed and decided I had to buy a six pack for this feature simply because.

Edwin Goei

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Origin: Korea

Found at: Freshia, Tustin

Cost: $0.99

Ingredients:
Wheat Flour, Vegetable Fat (Palm), Cocoa, Vegetable Hardened Oil (Palm), Wheat Starch, Salt, Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Condensed Milk, Fructose Corn Syrup, Vegetable Oil (Palm), Malt Extract (Cereals Containing Gluten), Artificial Flavour (Vanilla), Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate), Egg-Shell Calcium, Rice Bran Oil, Sugar, Seasoning Powder, Natural Vanillin Flavour, Natural Colour (Annatto Extract).

Why I Bought It:
Pepero is the Korean clone of Japanese Pocky brand, that familiar Asian cookie-aisle staple of wire-thin bread sticks dipped in chocolate. Pocky comes in many flavors, as does Pepero, but only Pepero has this "Nude" flavor. And it is essentially an inside out Pocky. Through what I am sure is a breakthrough of processed food innovation, the pretzel like sticks are hollowed out and filled with chocolate, hence they're "nude"...get it?