I Tried the Umaibo New Flavor Nori-Shio

In July 2020, the leading Dagashi snack company, Yaokin added a new regular flavor to their Umaibo line for the first time in five years,

and I bought 2 bags of the newly released “Norishio (のり塩)” flavor Umaibo for 20 yen (about 0.2 USD) at a 7 Eleven.

Yaokin Umaibo Nori-Shio Flavor Corn Puff Stick 

In its name, “Nori (のり)” stands for dry seaweed particles, while “Shio (塩)” means salt in Japanese.

Based on the ingredient list on the back of the package, the seaweed used in this Umaibo corn puff consists of roasted laver “Yaki Nori (焼海苔)” and the species called “Aosa (あおさ)”.

So the new Umaibo is lightly salted and dusted with the seaweed powder mix.

Additionally, unlike other Umaibo sticks, in the Nori-Shio flavor, potatoes are added and kneaded with the corn dough, and special salt is used for flavoring.

Speaking of the Nori-Shio flavor, I think many Japanese people will probably bring to mind Calbee Potato Chips Norishio,

but after sampling the new Umaibo, I found the flavor Nori-Shio unexpectedly works quite well with the puffed corn.

The Yaokin Umaibo Norishio has a nice savory taste somewhat different from the Calbee Potato Chips Norishio, compared to which it is more aromatic.

Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

Lastly, let’s see the ingredients and nutrition facts.

According to the lists pictured above, the Japanese corn puff stick, Umaibo Nori-Shio consists of non-GMO corn, vegetable oil, dried potato, dextrose, salt, Aosa seaweed, kombu powder, powdered yeast extract, Yaki-Nori, spices, seasoning (amino acids), flavoring, and sweetener (sucralose).

The corn puff snack Umaibo Norishio Flavor has 45 kcal per bag (6 grams) and uses 0.1 g salt equivalents.