Just when you thought every possible flavor combination and permutation of cereal had been exhausted, Kellogg’s comes out and shatters reality with their completely bizarre, Chex Pa (Green Onion) Cereal. This limited edition cereal was an old idea for a cereal that of course never made it to market after being conceptualized here in South Korea nearly two decades ago. The times are changing and in recent years, we’ve seen a serious demand for new and exciting flavors in the food industry to compete in an ever increasing competitive market. So, this cereal has actually been given life and can now be ordered (while supplies last) almost anywhere on the internet, here in Korea.
A Brief History Lesson
About sixteen years ago, a worker for Nongshim-Kellogg (You can see how this fits into this article now, right?) had the insane or genius idea to create a cereal that featured a green onion flavor. The team at Nongshim made a list of potential flavors that were both delicious and downright disgusting. Votes were cast at Nongshim’s headquarters for which would be the new flavor they were going to bring to the market. To everyone’s surprise, the green onion flavored cereal unanimously won the most popular vote that day back in the early 2000s.
“What’s this? How could such a flavor have won the popular vote? That’s impossible!”
If some of these thoughts came to mind just now, you were probably thinking pretty similarly to everyone working at Nongshim that day.
It was impossible…
The voting system was somehow cheated. Exactly how? We may never know…
The Review
The Packaging
This packaging is absolutely wild. I love it! I find it hilarious that the chocolate Chex character is cowering fearfully behind the green onion Chex guy or gal. He almost looks like The Incredible Hulk with his green-tinted skin and hulking size. Clearly this guy packs some serious flavor!
I also find it kind of funny that he literally has “onion breath.” He’s letting everyone know in that sentence that there’s actually real green onion in this cereal and not just the flavor.
To top it all off, he’s almost like a wizard with his green onion staff, as he’s magically calling down a rain of sliced green onion from the sky.
It’s a fairly epic box of cereal, in my opinion.
The Flavor
POW! After taking a single bite of this cereal, my mouth was completely blasted with an overwhelming onion flavor that sent all sorts of signals straight to the flavor center of my brain. This cereal really, REALLY tastes like green onion. So much so, it is a very jarring experience.
On first bite, you’re hit with the taste of green onion, but after slowly chewing your way through and sucking out the green onion flavor, it ends with a familiar (and much appreciated) cereal flavor. Couple this with the also very familiar flavor of milk and it’s not so… bad of a flavor combination.
My Thoughts
So, you’re probably wondering whether or not this cereal was actually a stroke of genius or a serious flop? And, should you actually go out and purchase this cereal to try for yourself?
The answer to the first question is… strangely, it almost works.
It was definitely a bold move by Nongshim-Kellogg to release such a bold flavor. Whether it would sell or not was probably keeping someone up at night, so we should all give them some applause for doing something almost unthinkable.
However, my personal opinion of the flavor is almost like taking a can of Onion Pringles, smashing them up, pouring milk on top, and munching on those. It might just be my mind creating a bit of a mental block and failing to associate green onion with milk and cereal, but maybe not...
So, that leaves me with, is it cultural or personal?
Upon inspection, I found that the ability for someone to accept this flavor was entirely subjective and preferential. My wife (Korean) tried them and was absolutely disgusted by them. A student of mine tried them (also Korean) and loved the new and exciting flavor. Small sample size aside, I guess you could say that it’s not a cultural phenomenon that allows this flavor to excel, but is based more on the variability between person to person.
So, my answer to the second question is… you should probably just try them for yourself.
Like most things in life, you’ve just got to give it a shot and see if you like it or not. Jumping into the deep end, I know, but there’s really nothing I can say or describe to you that would give you the correct answer…
Will I be purchasing this box of cereal again? GOD, I HOPE NOT!
There’s only one thing for certain. I’m truly hoping that we see more fun and exciting flavors released in the future that blow our minds with their creativity and outside the box thinking like Nongshim-Kellogg have done with this little bomb of insanity. If we can do this as a human species, everyday life will be just that little bit more exciting.
So, what do you think about green onion flavored cereal? Does it sound delicious or absolutely disgusting? Let me know down in the comments!
If you’re interested in hearing more about instant ramen and other South Korean delights, check out my on-going series, Noodle Story: An Exploration of Korean Instant Noodles, here on Medium.
Note: This article may contain affiliate links that support the author’s ramen purchases for these how-to guides and reviews.
