Soft Salad Senbei : Kameda Seika’s Long-selling Rice Cracker

Senbei (煎餅) is the quintessential Japanese rice cracker with a long history. Traditionally, the Japanese snack is made by pounding non-glutinous rice “Uruchi-Mai (うるち米)”, forming the pounded rice into a thin round shape, then baking it. Traditional Senbei rice crackers are flavored with soy sauce or salt.

However, in modern times, Senbei comes in various shapes and many flavors, like curry, wasabi (Japanese horseradish), and sea urchin. If you have a chance to go to a Japanese supermarket, you will see a lot of Senbei products lined up on the shelf in the snack and candy section.

I’m Japanese, so I have many favorite Senbei rice crackers. Out of those, today I want to introduce Kameda Seika Soft Salad (亀田製菓 ソフトサラダ).

Kameda Seika Soft Salad Senbei

Soft Salad Senbei (Amazon.com) is a rice cracker produced and sold by Kameda Seika, a major Japanese confectionery company well-known for its Kameda Crisps rice crackers (Amazon.com).

Kameda Seika Soft Salad Senbei was released in 1970 and now has become a standard Senbei rice cracker loved by Japanese people of all generations.

The Features 

Generally, Senbei rice crackers have a hard crunchy texture, while Kameda Seika’s Soft Salad Senbei is light and soft crispy as the name indicates.

Speaking of the taste, these Senbei are mainly flavored with traditional Okinawan Salt “Shimamaasu (シママース)”, a roast salt made from Okinawa’s sea-water. Therefore, the Shimamaasu salt with lots of umami determines this Senbei’s taste.

The Ingredients 

According to the description on the back of the package, the ingredient of Kameda Seika Soft Salad Senbei mainly includes non-glutinous rice “Uruchi-Mai”, glutinous rice, vegetable fat and oil, starch, Shimamaasu salt, powdered bonito extract, and flavorings such as amino acid.

In Conclusion

Although, traditionally, Senbei crackers are made from non-glutinous rice, the staple food of the Japanese, the dough of Kameda Seika Soft Salad Senbei consists of both non-glutinous and glutinous rice.

The Soft Salad Senbei contains vegetable fat and oil, but isn’t oily at all. It is light and crispy, and while crunching it, the rice cracker melts in the mouth.

If you are a Senbei beginner and interested in the traditional Japanese rice cracker, Kameda Seika Soft Salad is a recommended item for you because it is really tasty and has an excellent texture.

Kameda Seika Soft Salad Senbei
Amazon.com