Momnesia

Product Review: Dang Coconut Chips

AUGUSTA, GA. - So, as you all know, I sometimes get new products to try. I have yet to be paid to write a review, and I'm in no way obligated to write one. But I like to, so here goes another one.

Klout.com sent me a box of various +Fair Trade Certified items to try.


That's good groceries, right there. I'm going to be certain to eat all of that right up, you can be sure. But I saw the dang [sic] coconut chips, and almost dove in headfirst.

You should know that coconut is A Thing for me. I love the taste and texture and smell - even the overly sweet, pungent odor on the beach is pleasurable to me. Part of my adoration is its exoticism. Part of it is my amusement that coconuts are more vicious than sharks. Seriously, y'all, when there is an amusing statistic or story behind something, I will develop an unnatural affection for that item. It's just how I am.

But the biggest part of my love for coconut is the memory of the Best Cake Ever. My great-grandmother, Mama Ida, used to make a coconut layer cake from scratch whenever we'd visit. Of course, everything on her table was amazeballs. Fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes. But that coconut cake sat on her cake stand on a nearby shelf and taunted me the entire meal. No cake has ever lived up to it. Mainly because the flavor of the cake is shrouded by a veil of childhood memories long since filtered into postcard nostalgia.


However, these little morsels of joy from dang come close to satisfying my desire for it.

Vincent Kitirattragarn is the founder of the company. Coconut chips are apparently a big snacky thing in Thailand, which is from where the mother of the company's founder hails. His mother's name? Dang. The website says:

Dang is named after my mother, who grew up eating food from some of the best chefs in the world: Bangkok’s street vendors. One day, she passed on her recipe for Thai Lettuce Wraps just like she used to have as a college student. I found myself involuntarily snacking on one of the ingredients - Toasted Coconut. It had a strong, sweet aroma and a very satisfying crunch. I immediately called my family, who have been importing goods to the US for more than 30 years, and with that, our company was born.

Vincent took the coconut chips and turned them into a snack of their own. And then the big jerk went and coated them in dark chocolate.


That's all lovely, you say. But how do they taste?

Psh. Awesome. Of course. The earthy, bittersweet, smooth chocolate perfectly pairs with the delicate, sweet, dense, fibrous coconut chips. The bite-sized pieces are a satisfying chew, with a pleasant grind and slight squeak in the teeth.

The company sells several other flavors of coconut chips: plain, lightly salted, caramel sea salt, and Greek yogurt-coated. dang foods provides a free recipe book for download.

Best of all, this is an American company, certified fair trade, and the product contains just four ingredients: Coconut chips, dark chocolate, tapioca dextrin, and confectioners glaze.

A word to the wise, however: coconut meat is a powerful laxative. Snack wisely. Don't be like the people caught unaware by sugar-free Gummy Bears.