Soft Salad Senbei: Kameda’s Long-Selling Rice Cracker

“Senbei (煎餅)” is the traditional Japanese rice cracker most commonly eaten in Japan. It is traditionally made of non-glutinous rice called “Uruchi-Mai (うるち米)” that has been steamed, pounded, formed into a thin round shape, and baked or grilled.

While traditional Senbei crackers are flavored mainly with soy sauce or salt, modern Senbei comes in various shapes and a variety of flavors, such as curry, wasabi (Japanese horseradish), or sea urchin.

In fact, if you have a chance to go to a supermarket in Japan, you will find many varieties of Senbei products lined up on the shelf in the snack and candy section.

I’m Japanese, so I have many favorite Senbei, out of which, today I will introduce a long-selling Senbei from Kameda Seika, “Soft Salad (ソフトサラダ)”.

Kameda Seika Soft Salad Senbei

The Senbei “Soft Salad (ソフトサラダ)” is a rice cracker produced and sold by Kameda Seika, a leading Japanese confectionery company headquartered in Niigata where I live and well-known for Kameda Crisps rice crackers.

The Soft Salad Senbei was first introduced in 1970 and today has become a standard Senbei loved by Japanese people of all generations.

Features 

While the majority of Senbei have a pretty hard, crunchy texture, these Kameda’s Soft Salad Senbei have a light, crispy texture that practically melts in the mouth.

The Kameda’s rice cracker is seasoned mainly with traditional Okinawan Salt called “Shimamasu (シママース)”, which is a roasted salt made from Okinawa’s seawater.

The Shimamasu salt has lots of umami compared to others, which determines the taste of this Senbei.

Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

Lastly, let’s see the ingredients and nutrition facts. According to the label pictured above, with 69 kcal and 0.25 g salt equivalents per piece, the Kameda Seika Soft Salad Senbei is made mainly with non-glutinous rice “Uruchi-Mai”, glutinous rice “Mochi-Gome”, vegetable oil, starch, Shimamasu salt, powdered bonito extract, and flavorings including amino acids.