Cheese Arare: The Rice Cracker Comes in 2 Different Types
“Senbei (煎餅)”, “Okaki (おかき)”, and “Arare (あられ)” are traditional rice crackers widely enjoyed in Japan, among which, made by baking pounded non-glutinous rice, Senbei is the most common.
In contrast, Okaki and Arare are both made from glutinous rice called “Mochi-Gome (餅米)” and Arare is generally considered the small version of Okaki.
All these Japanese rice crackers are traditionally flavored with soy sauce or salt, but in modern times, they are available in many flavors and varieties.
Cheese Arare (チーズあられ)
When it comes to the modern variety of Arare, “Cheese Arare (チーズあられ)” is especially popular and has long been loved. But from the picture above, you might wonder why there are 2 bags of Cheese Arare.
Actually, in recent years, Cheese Arare comes in 2 different types, traditional and modern, and as shown above, they are completely different things
Traditional Varieties
First, these are a traditional type of Cheese Arare. This type generally consists of a pipe-shaped Arare rice cracker filled with mild cheese cream.
The outer snack covering is a traditional Arare made from glutinous rice, featuring a nice crunchy texture and savory soy sauce flavor, which is why I call this type “Traditional”.
Ingredients
Specifically, the main ingredients of this Cheese Arare are glutinous rice, vegetable oil, milk sugar, malt dextrin, soy sauce, cheese powder, skim milk powder, sugar, powdered bonito extract, yeast extract, and salt.
Modern Varieties
On the other hand, when Japanese people think of modern Arare, I think many will probably bring to mind Yaokin’s Cheese Arare.
For the unfamiliar, “Yaokin (やおきん)” is a Japanese confectionery company that specializes in Dagashi snacks and is famous for “Umaibo (うまい棒)” corn puff sticks.
This Cheese Arare from Yaokin is a kind of puffed snack made from a mixture of wheat flour and natural cheese powder. Unlike the traditional ones, this type is light in taste with a melt-in-the-mouth texture to it.
Ingredients
Specifically, the main ingredients of this Cheese Arare cracker are wheat flour, vegetable oil (rapeseed oil), starch, salt, natural cheese, skim milk powder, baking powder, and seasoning (including amino acids).
