Shio Ame : Classic Japanese Salt Candy

As I wrote about it before, “Kuro Ame (黒飴)” is a classic Japanese hard candy made with high-quality Okinawan brown sugar.

Kuro Ame comes in many varieties and the one produced by Kasugai Seika Confectionery is especially popular in Japan.

Actually, in addition to the brown sugar candy, Kasugai Seika has one more long-selling hard candy with a unique Japanese taste. That is “Shioame (塩あめ)”.

Shio-Ame (塩あめ)

The product name, “Shio-Ame (塩あめ)” literally means “salt candy”, from which you might imagine that the Japanese candy is salty.

However, the Shio Ame Candy isn’t salty. Instead, the hard candy has umami of salt and a moderate gentle sweetness.

Many of us Japanese like to suck on the salt candy especially in the summer season to replenish salts lost by sweating.

Hence, there are a variety of Shio Ame candies in Japan, which are available at supermarkets and convenience stores.

Among those, the one produced and sold by Kasugai is one of the best Shio Ame in Japan, like its Kuro Ame candy.

The Kasugai’s salt candy contains 98 mg of salt per piece, and the other ingredients mainly consists of sugar, malt syrup, and soy sauce.

Hakata no Shio (伯方の塩 : Salt of Hakata)

Hakata no Shio (Salt of Hakata)
Amazon.com

As you can guess, the crucial element of the Japanese salt candy “Shio Ame” is umami of salt.

As for Kasugai’s Shio Ame, it is made with “Hakata no Shio (伯方の塩 : Salt of Hakata)”, the Japan’s most famous salt brand.

The salt of Hakata is characterized by its rich umami taste with a right amount of bittern.

In Conclusion

The Japanese salt candy, Shio Ame is a simple yet tasty hard candy. In fact, the candy has been widely enjoyed in Japan for decades.

If you want to try the classic Japanese candy, I will highly recommend Kasugai’s Shio Ame, because it is not only popular in Japan but the salt candy also has a good balance of saltiness and sweetness.

Kasugai Shio-Ame (Japanese salt candy)
Amazon.com