Orion – Korean Chicken Flavor Turtle Chips
Bitter: 🟡○○○○
Salty: 🟡 🟡🟡🟡○
Sour/Tangy:🟡🟡○○○
Sweet: 🟡🟡🟡○○
Umami: 🟡🟡🟡🟡○
Heat: 🟡○○○○○○○○○
Quick Flavor Notes: Tomato, Smoky, Sweet
Recommended: Yes
Texture: Super crispy chips
Ingredients: Wheat Based Chip [Wheat Flour, Sugar, Salt Vegetable Oil (Palm Olein Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Fermented Wheat Flour, Fermented Liquid (Wheat Flour, Sugar, Yogurt (Mil), Yeast), Cocoa*, Vegetable Oil (Palm Olein Oi, Rapesed OV, Ketchup Sauce {Tomato Paste, Water, High Fructose Com Syrup, Vinegar, Corn Syrup, Sugar, Ketchup Base (Sal, Citric Acid, Onion*, Smoke Flavor, Monosodium Glutamate, Cinnamon), Chipotle Sauce (Water, Chipotle Chili Pepper, Salt, Vinegar), Acetylated Distarch Adipate, Xanthan Gum), Seasoning {Sweet and Spicy Seasoning (Fructose, Monosodium Glutamate, Chicken Flavor (contains egg), Sugar, Artificial Flavor, Yeast Extract, Vinegar, Oleoresin Capsicum, Rosemary Extract) Dextrin, Salt, Soy Sauce (Wheat, Soybean, Maltodextrin, Salt), Dextrose Anhydrous, Onion*, Tomato*, Garlic*, Soy Extract, Red Pepper, Calcium Phosphate, Tribasic, Citric Acid, Oleoresin Paprika, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Oleoresin Capsicum, Enzyme Modified Stevia, Sucralose}, Sugar, Red Pepper Paste fRed Pepper Sauce (Red Pepper*, Sait, Garlic, onion), Corn Syrup, Wheat Flour, Brown Rice, High Fructose Com Syrup, Wheat, Distilled Alcohol, Salt, Monosodium Glutamate, Rice*, Koji, Minced Garlic, Yeast Extract. *Powdered
The Orion company has a history that dates back to 1956, founded shortly after the Korean War. Originally a confectionary company focusing on sweets it wasn’t until the 1980s when they ventured into savory snacks such as potato chips following a joint venture with Frito-Lay. What the company is most well-known for now however is this product, the Turtle Chip. Originally released in 2017 following a staggering eight years of development the company has a patent on the production of these wheat and corn snacks with a super-crispy four layer design said to resemble a turtle shell (plus the name reminds of Korean’s famous Turtle Ship which helped Korea turn back a Japanese invasion in the 1500s, and is also referenced in the Kpop banger Aria by CRAXY). Turtle Chips have become wildly popular in Korea as well as other parts of Asia and have been growing in popularity now in western markets.
While the label on the bag simply says Korean Chicken flavor, based on the image and it being the dominant flavor profile people associate with Korean Fried Chicken, the flavor of these is actually of Korean Fried Chicken with Yangnyeom sauce, the traditional sweet and spicy flavor profile. While some Korean and other Asian snacks I’ve had have had remarkably clean ingredients lists, Orion Turtle Chips aren’t one of those. However, when you boil down from the expansive list of sub-ingredients these do have some interesting elements including a seasoning blend, and some of the scarier sounding ingredients like acetylated distarch adipate are just things such as common modified food starch. The flavor base for these chips include ketchup and chipotle peppers, and while ketchup can be found in some yangnyeom sauce recipes chipotles are a new one for me. More traditional inclusions in the flavoring include gochujang (listed as red pepper paste), gochugaru (listed as pepper powder), and several sweeteners including stevia, sucralose, and corn syrup. These also include a bevy of umami boosters including MSG, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, yeast extract, and koji plus some traditional aromatics such as tomato, onion, and garlic.
The trademarked quad-layer shape does make Orion Korean Chicken flavor Turtle Chips as crispy as the company claims. The individual chips are almost impossibly airy (as well as a bit fragile as many in my bag had been broken) yet also very satisfying. The flavor is tomato-forward and with the ketchup being the first ingredient in the seasoning blend along with more tomato further down this makes sense. The sweetness is present but not overpowering, no more than typical barbecue flavored chips. These do have a noticeable smoky flavor from the chipotle and other natural smoke flavor added but again it’s balanced and not overpowering. I don’t get much chicken flavor and what there is is similar to the Samyang Buldak artificial chicken flavor. I wish there was more of a fermented flavor that typically comes from the gochujang in real Korean Fried Chicken but perhaps that’s difficult to achieve in a chip. These do however have a great umami depth that gives them a certain “meaty” satisfaction even if the chicken flavor itself isn’t prominent. In terms of heat these make use of both real chile peppers in the flavoring blend as well as capsaicin oil, or extract, and while they’re not hot by any means there is a warmth and gentle heat. I’d say they’re a step or two below the typical Flamin’ Hot branded chips and Cheetos in terms of heat.
If you’ve never had Turtle Chips they’re absolutely worth a try and I did enjoy this flavor. Don’t go into them expecting something to light your mouth ablaze but they do evoke Korean fried chicken sauce reasonably well and have an addicting spicy-smoky-salty-sweet-umami flavor combination. I’ll give these a recommendation and I will have to look to see if they have any other potentially spicy flavors the next time I’m at the Asian grocery store.
