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Senbei (
Alternative names | Sembei |
---|---|
Type | Rice cracker |
Place of origin | Japan |
Region or state | East Asia |
Main ingredients | Japanese rice (uruchimai) |
There are several types of traditional Japanese senbei. They can be baked or deep-fried and sometimes sweetened. Aside from rice, wheat flour or starch can be used. Some varieties even use foods other than grains, such as sakana senbei (fish-senbei), renkon senbei (lotus root senbei) and hone senbei (bone-senbei).
Senbei have several variations, including nori-wrapped, arare, Olive no Hana, soy nut, and wet. Thin rice crackers (
In China, the same characters used to write senbei are read jiānbǐng (
Preparation
editSenbei are made from glutinous rice which has been steamed for 15 to 20 minutes before being pounded into dough. After several days of refrigeration, the dough is cut into shapes.[3]
Senbei are usually cooked by being baked or grilled, traditionally over charcoal. While being prepared they may be brushed with a flavoring sauce, often one made of soy sauce and mirin. They may then be wrapped with a layer of nori. Alternatively they may be flavored with salt or "salad" flavoring, among others.
History
editSweet senbei (
What Japanese commonly refer to as senbei nowadays were popularized by a teahouse in Sōka city in the Edo period, which spread salty soy sauce flavored senbei throughout Japan.
Modern senbei versions are very inventive and may include flavorings which can range from kimchi to wasabi to curry to chocolate.
Kansai senbei tend to use glutinous rice and are lightly seasoned and delicate in texture (saku saku). Kantō senbei were originally based on uruchimai, a non-glutinous rice, and they tend to be more crunchy (kari kari) and richly flavored.
Types
edit- Age senbei (fried senbei)
- Atsuyaki senbei (thick senbei)
- Kometsubu senbei (grains of rice senbei)
- Nori senbei (seaweed senbei)
- Nure senbei (wet senbei)
- Satou senbei (sugar senbei)
- Salad senbei (salad flavored senbei)
- Usuyaki senbei (thin senbei)
- Zarame senbei (granulated sugar senbei)[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Sinclair, C (2005). "Dictionary of food: international food and cooking terms from A to Z". A&C Black.
- ^ "HISTORY". Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
- ^ Lusas, Edmund W.; Rooney, Lloyd W. (5 June 2001). Snack Foods Processing. CRC Press. p. 458. ISBN 978-1-4200-1254-5.
- ^ "
全国 米菓 工業 組合 ". www.arare-osenbei.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-12-05.