Lay’s chips have been around since 1932, and are marketed as a division of Frito-Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo Inc. since 1965. So in China .. Lay’s translates into Lèshì 乐事 which means ‘happy matter/ incident/ event’. The rest of the symbols were hard for me to find in my translator, but 麻 means numb and 辣 means peppery : an indicator that there’s probably some Sichuan pepper in the potato chips.
So does the Numb & Spicy Hot Pot Flavor make for a happy event? Yes. The chips are tasty and do not set one’s mouth on fire. Sichuan pepper has a unique aroma and flavor that is not hot or pungent like black or white pepper, or chili peppers, but has slight lemony overtones (says a website! My tastebuds wouldn’t say ah! lemony overtones, hmm) and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth, caused by its 3% of hydroxy-alpha-sanshool chemical. (P.S. No – the handsome young fella is not a Formula F1 driver).