Shiruko Sandwich: Matsunaga Seika’s long-selling Biscuit
“Shiruko (汁粉)”, or “Oshiruko (お汁粉)”, is a traditional Japanese winter soup dish made of Azuki red beans that have been simmered in water and sweetened with sugar, which is often served with baked or steamed “Mochi (餅)” rice cakes.
In Japan, the red bean soup, Shiruko actually also comes in a snack form and the sweet treat is called “Shiruko Sand (しるこサンド)” or Shiruko Sandwich.
Matsunaga Shiruko Sandwich (Sand)
Released in 1966, the product Shiruko Sand is a long-selling Shiruko sandwich biscuit produced and sold by “Matsunaga Seika (松永製菓)”, a confectionery company headquartered in the city of Komaki, Aichi Prefecture.
On the back of the package, there is a product description stating the biscuit uses kneaded bean jam used in the O-Shiruko red bean soup as its filling.
The biscuit dough is well baked and somewhat hard like a cracker, and thanks to that texture, it has a nice crunch.
As you can see in the photo above, the sweet red bean jam or “Anko (餡子)” filling is in the middle of the dough, which imparts its gentle refined sweetness to the biscuit, making the overall snack a delicious fusion of Western and Japanese.
Indeed, the classic Japanese biscuit tastes very good and I love it. So if you are fond of Japanese confections or “Wagashi (和菓子)“, I think you too will definitely like it.
Ingredients and Nutrition Facts
Lastly, let’s see the ingredients and nutrition facts of this snack. According to the above list, the Matsunaga Seika’s Shiruko sandwich biscuit is made from wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil, shortening, Azuki-An (sweet red bean paste), apple jam, high fructose corn syrup, skim milk powder, salt, honey, leavening agent, and flavoring.
And the nutrition facts label says that the Japanese treat Shiruko Sand has 480 kcal per 100 grams and contains 0.8 g salt equivalents.
(Reference Page: Wikipedia しるこサンド )