My girls and I love crispy fish skin and chicharrón (crispy pork skin). I also adore kawa (Japanese-style chicken skin on skewers grilled til crispy). So when I heard about Cemani's chicken skin snacks, I was thrilled. About time someone did this!
The name Cemani refers to a breed of chicken. The local founders partnered with Tenderfresh and did a ton of R&D to come up with this final product.
What's astounding is they have managed to remove 99% of the fats. This is to make for guilt-free snacking, but the final texture seems puffed rather than fried. While it melts in the mouth, it isn't exactly crackling. I liked it but found myself wishing it had a harder, more satisfying crunch.
My family's unanimous favourite is the Mala flavour. It isn't just because we are rabid fans of anything mala. This really is the more addictive of the lot. Some of my colleagues preferred the Salted Egg Yolk one though. There's also Original and Tom Yum.
They have just launched the Cereal Chicken skin flavour. I'll add my opinion after I've tried it. Hmmm. Maybe they can consider something like Butter Shoyu or Seaweed. Haha, I'm just partial to Japanese-inspired flavours.
So far, the ingredients are halal and preparation is done in a halal kitchen but certification is still on the way.
I have to say I much prefer the old packaging though; it looks more vibrant and sophisticated. I love the wooden background giving it a more organic feel. Not sure why they changed the design so quickly after launch.
Cemani products can be found in supermarkets, convenient stores and online. The normal retail price is S$10 per 80g pack, but it's S$7.50 online.
Thanks to Cemani for sending the samples.
