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 pieces 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 Snack Bar
In the flavor 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 bars, 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 will bring Calbee Potato Chips Norishio to mind, but after trying out the new Umaibo, I found the flavor Nori-Shio unexpectedly works quite well with the corn puff.
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
According to the ingredient list, the Japanese corn puff snack bar, Umaibo Nori-Shio consists of non-GMO corn, vegetable fat and oil, dried potato, dextrose, salt, Aosa seaweed, kombu powder, yeast extract powder, roasted laver (Yaki-Nori), spices, seasoning (amino acids), flavoring, and sweetener (sucralose).
Based on the nutrition facts, the Umaibo Norishio Flavor corn puff has 45 kcal per one bar (6 g) and contains 0.1 g salt equivalents.
