I'll do just about anything for that - which includes eating a bright red pickle wrapped around the fruit stuffed with hot Cheetos and topped with hot sauce. Chamoy pickle went viral on TikTok (the hashtag #chamoypickle has over 53,000 posts and #chamoypicklekit has nearly 30,000 posts) and immediately caught my attention, and not just because of its eye-catching shade. I'm a die-hard pickle girl, so I immediately knew I had to get the treat in question myself before passing judgment. This was a way to satisfy my curiosity while also doing a service to my dear readers to find out if it was worth the hype.
A staple in the TikTok store
If you've been feeling inundated with sponsored content or calls asking to purchase items from the TikTok Shop lately, you're not alone. To be honest, the constant videos and links to the TikTok store of people trying Chamoy kimchi are probably what got me so obsessed with trying it.
I typed "chamoy pickle kit" into the same search bar I use to find videos, users, or trending sounds, and the first few results that immediately appeared were links for purchase. When you click on the "Store" tab, you can view all available options. I chose the first result that came to me, from a seller called A Box You Can Count On, the kit was on sale for $16, but it was almost always on sale and I bought it for $9.60 Got it and free shipping.
What is a Chamoy Pickle anyway?
Chamoy is a Mexican condiment made from pickled fruit. It can be in liquid form, but is most commonly found in a dark red paste form. You may have seen it served with fresh mango or pineapple, or packaged with Tajín seasoning. It's also often found in Mexican candies, where the spicy, sweet paste is mixed into sour or fruity gummies or suckers to create an explosion of flavor. Chamoy is spicy, sweet, and a little sour—the same flavor profile of a really good kimchi, in my opinion.
No matter which set you buy, the standout is the Big Tex Dill Pickle In Chamoy from Alamo Candy Company, a Texas-based company specializing in American and Mexican candy since 1991 . The TikTok trend is on the rise, and since chamoy is traditionally paired with candy and potato chips, it makes sense to pair those things with chamoy-flavored pickles.
If you buy a full kit, it usually comes with toppings including side fruit (meant to wrap the pickles), hot chips like Takis or Cheetos stuffed into hollow pickles, and sour candies that will make you frown each time Take a bite. The kit in my “box you can trust” also includes lollipops, fuel injectors, hot sauce, and sour sugar powder. It even includes a pair of disposable gloves for handling pickles without getting your hands dirty, which is both incredible and a little worrying.
judgment
Since this was a very scientific experiment, I decided to take a separate bite of the pickle before adding all the various ingredients to establish some sort of baseline control group. I knew I liked all of these things individually, but put together I wasn't so sure. Even though the kimchi looked weird, I took a bite and it tasted just like regular old semi-sour kimchi.
I used two fingers to lift the kimchi out of the bright red liquid, then put on gloves so I could place it on a plate so it would be easier to handle. Almost immediately, my fingers turned red, so yes, gloves are necessary. In fact, maybe just scrub it down Grey's Anatomy style before eating. When I read the ingredients on the back, it included vinegar, salt, Red 40, and a few other artificial ingredients - even though the label on the pickle calls it "Big Tex Dill Pickle In Chamoy," there's no Chamoy in sight. All of the ingredients except the coloring are very typical of kimchi, so it's basically just a red 40 kimchi, which doesn't sound very appetizing when put so simply.
Then I went ahead and did what I'd seen so many brave souls do before on my five-year plan: I wrapped the pickles in the fruit at my feet and stuffed them with some hot potato chips and sour bars. Dare I say, is this good? But the good side is just like how toxic situations are "good" - you know you may regret it later, but it doesn't hurt to have a taste in the moment. It becomes chewy and fruity at once, then soft and vinegary, then ends with some crunchy spice from the chips. To be honest, I'm not that angry, but that doesn't mean I'm proud. I might not be so scared if it were regular pickles instead of ones that would stain my fingers red for 24 hours.
FWIW, after taking a bite with all the extras on it, I immediately threw the pickle out. My kitchen looks like a scene from a Tarantino movie with red stuff everywhere. My mouth looks like Barry Keoghan's mouth in the Saltburn scene. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but when it comes to trying weird TikTok trends, I'm pretty sure I have nine lives. I can't wait to see what weird concoctions the five-year plan influences I eat next.
