Irish Spice Bag VS Salt and Pepper

When creating chip shop reviews, I can almost hear viewers gasp as I tuck into salt-and-pepper chips or other salt-and-pepper dishes. For as long as I can remember, salt-and-pepper dishes have been part of my regular order. Salt-and-pepper chicken, salt-and-pepper chips, ribs, prawns, and even salt-and-pepper siu mai. Over the years, some of my favourites have come from chippies in Liverpool, where the seasoning is bold, fragrant and done properly. What fascinates me now is how closely that long-standing classic sits alongside the rise of the Irish Spice Bag.

Salt and Pepper Box at Salt and Vinegar Chippy in Liverpool

The Liverpool Love Affair with Salt and Pepper

Salt and pepper chicken and chips became a real staple in Liverpool’s takeaway culture many decades ago. It's a simple but powerful idea: crispy, fried, coated chicken or chips tossed in salt-and-pepper, chilli flakes, Chinese five-spice, and sometimes a touch of MSG. Well, more often than not, there is MSG. Added to that are usually freshly chopped onions, peppers, and chillis.

Over time, it moved beyond just Chinese takeaways. Plenty of traditional fish-and-chip shops, even those without an extensive Chinese menu, began offering salt-and-pepper chicken bites, salt-and-pepper chips, salt-and-pepper siu mai, and even salt-and-pepper fish. It became less about cuisine and more about flavour. In many Liverpool chippies, it's the norm.

Salt and pepper with extra chilli, fish. Liverpool.

Salt and pepper siu mai at George and Angela's in Liverpool

The Irish Spice Bag, which rose to prominence in Dublin during the 2010s, takes that same seasoning profile and packages it differently.

Chips, salt, and chilli chicken are combined in one bag, often with an Irish or Chinese curry sauce on the side, and sold as a single named dish. It's not just seasoned chips; it's now the iconic Irish Spice Bag. The seasoning base is very similar. Salt, pepper, five-spice, chilli powder or flakes, or both; sometimes chilli or mixed curry powders. The difference is presentation and identity, not so much in the ingredients.

Irish Spice Bags

Is It Chinese?

The salt-and-pepper technique has roots in Cantonese cooking. A light coating, deep frying, and finishing with dry seasoning. But chips are not traditional Chinese cuisine. Nor is it the heavy, takeaway-style blend we see in the UK and Ireland. Both salt-and-pepper dishes and the Spice Bag have a Chinese takeaway heritage, adapted to local tastes and becoming local favourites.

Mixed Salt and Pepper

Does the Name Make a Difference?

Salt-and-pepper chips, salt-and-pepper siu mai, and salt-and-pepper chicken are descriptive. They tell you exactly what you are getting, but the Irish Spice Bag sounds like a product. A thing. Something you ask for by name.

When something has a clear, catchy name, it becomes easier to market, trend, and talk about. It feels like a menu feature rather than just a variation. I do wonder whether the rise in sales has as much to do with branding as it does with flavour. Liverpool has been enjoying salt-and-pepper dishes for decades. Ireland gave a very similar concept a strong identity and watched it take off, it seems to me, and which is good, as it provides another item to takeaways, which normally don't serve Chinese food.

What I Think

For me, great salt-and-pepper chicken, properly seasoned chips, and well-made salt-and-pepper siu mai still hit the mark every time. Some of the best I have had have come from Liverpool chippies that understand balance. Enough heat, enough pepper, enough savoury depth.

The Irish Spice Bag is not a flavour revolution. It is a clever evolution in presentation.

Same roots. Slightly different framing, and huge popularity. You can't really just ask for salt-and-pepper unless you specify a food item, but you can for an Irish Spice Bag or Spice Bag, which gives you coated chicken pieces and chips, with the seasoning and other ingredients, all in one bag. Of course, there will no doubt be many versions of the Spice Bag to cater for vegan and individual preferences. Properly seasoned fried food, done well, will always find its audience.

Salt and Pepper Chips

Spice Bag Brands

I am not aware of any brands offering a complete, fresh Irish Spice Bag solution, which is understandable. The dish relies on fresh vegetables such as peppers and onions, along with chips and seasoning, so it is assembled rather than manufactured into a single product.

What I do see across the trade is brands supplying key elements that help shops build their own version. KEPAK, for example, through Big Al’s, offers coated chicken products such as Crispy Shredded Chicken. Chicken strips provide the base for a Spice Bag.

You can find some Spice Bag recipe ideas on their website: KEPAK BIG AL'S