Senbei are crispy rice crackers that come in various flavors, shapes, and colors. They are a traditional Japanese snack often eaten with tea and made with rice flour, wheat flour, oil, water, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. They can be grilled, baked, or fried and coated with seaweed, sesame, or spices. Other types of rice crackers in Japan include arare and okaki.
Senbei are glazed crispy rice crackers that are generally bite size. They are usually bought packaged and come in a wide variety of flavors, colors and shapes. This snack is often eaten alongside green tea and is also sometimes called a Japanese cracker. A common alternative spelling of senbei is sembai. These snack crackers are one of several varieties of snacks traditionally served with tea in Japan.
A popular food in Japanese culture for centuries, senbei is one of several types of rice crackers that serve as a traditional snack in Japan. These snacks can generally be classified by flavor and texture. Categories of this type of rice cracker include kansai and kanto senbei. Kansai and Kanto are made with different types of rice. Kansai is generally lighter in flavor and less dense than kanto crackers.
In addition to rice flour and all-purpose wheat flour, the ingredients in the cracker portion of senbei include oil, water, and salt. The added baking powder and baking soda make the rice flour senbei light and soft. Usually, senbai are made by frying, baking or grilling the rice-based cracker dough pieces. Historically, crackers were grilled over charcoal.
The coating on the cracker portion of this snack often determines its dominant flavor. The most common coating on senbei is seaweed, but it can also be flavored with things like nutty sesame or hot spices.
Since it’s basically a flat rice cracker, a senbei can be many different things, as long as it’s still a rice cracker. There are varieties of sweet and candied crackers in addition to the common lightly frosted and spicy crackers. They can be naturally colored from the rice used to make them, or they can be dyed in a wide variety of bright colors to add a festive touch. Senbei is one of many snacks served with tea in Japan. Another popular tea snack, wagashi, is a chewy, sweet confection that is often shaped like a flower.
Other types of rice crackers are identified by their coating and whether they are sweet, spicy or candied. Other types of rice crackers eaten in Japan include arare and okaki. Arare is a sweet or savory round cracker that is shaped like a river rock. Okaki are golden slices of mochi, a sweet Japanese rice cake.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
