Aji Shirabe: Iwatsuka’s Classic Senbei (Rice Cracker)
The prefecture where I live, Niigata is the largest producer of rice in Japan and the rice has a good reputation nationwide for its tastiness. So Niigata has a lot of popular specialties made of rice and the representative examples are Sake and Senbei or rice crackers.
In fact, in Niigata, there are a number of large confectionery makers well known for their rice crackers, which include Kameda-Seika, Echigo-Seika, Sanko-Seika, Kuriyama-Beika (Befco), and Iwatsuka-Seika.
Among them, Iwatsuka is headquartered in the city of Nagaoka and is particular about the 100 percent use of domestically produced rice, and one of the Senbei products that represent the company is what I introduce here “Aji Shirabe (味しらべ)”.
Aji Shirabe Senbei from Iwatsuka Seika
The Senbei, Aji Shirabe was introduced by the Nagaoka-based confectionery maker Iwatsuka-Seika in 1978, and now has been a favorite snack of many people through generations.
The product contains 32 pieces of individually wrapped rice crackers and one pack has 2 small pieces of Senbei in it. (2 pcs × 16 packs).
In addition to having a nice crunch, the Aji Shirabe Senbei features its pleasant melt-in-the-mouth texture.
Taste
Like Kameda-Seika’s Happy Turn Senbei, the rice cracker is coated with soy sauce-based sweet-salty powder, which makes a perfect combination with the savoriness and melting texture of the Senbei.
As a whole, both the texture and taste of the Aji Shirabe Senbei are so good that with one bite you may probably get hooked on it.
Ingredients and Nutrition Facts
Lastly, here are the ingredients and nutrition facts labels of the Iwatsuka Seika Aji Shirabe Senbei.
Based on that, with 35 kcal and 0.16 g salt equivalents per one pack (2 pieces), the Japanese treat is made mainly with non-glutinous rice “Uruchi-Mai”, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, rice powder, dextrose, powdered soy sauce, and salt.
