Echigoseika Funwari Meijin (Kinako Sembei)

There are few things in Japan which I consider to be a type of food crack for me. In fact, I think that even using "crack" to talk about the addictive quality of certain things is monumentally over-used by people. I don't think I've ever needed to use that term before. There is a first time for everything.

Echigoseika makes several varieties of "fluffy" (funwari) sembei. In fact, I'm not sure if I can accurately call it sembei, but I do because that is the section that it is sold in in snack shops and markets and glutinous rice is one of the main ingredients. Well, it's the third one after sugar and vegetable oil. The fact that the first two ingredients are part of the bad food trifecta (the third is salt) should indicate how healthy these must be. That is to say, not very much. The other two flavors are white chocolate and cheese. The thing all of these have in common is that they are light, delicate, and they melt in your mouth when you eat them. They are like nothing I have ever had before in the U.S., but I can say that they have a strong enough texture for minimal crunch and a melting quality that makes them collapse in a pile of flavor on the tongue.

As one might guess from the introduction, I loved, no, no, ADORED these. The kinako (roasted soybean powder) gives them a roasted nut flavor which is similar to peanut butter. They have a great blend of salty and sweet layered on top of the nutty flavor. This comes together in a burst of incredible flavor which is potent, but not overbearing. I'm grateful that a bag comes with 6 individual (14 gram/.5 oz.) packets in order to encourage portion control because it would be easy to open a bag and just eat the whole thing. While each packet is only 72 calories, eating all 6 of them at once would pretty much constitute the better part of a meal's calories. 

These are awesome. If you see them, buy them and gain some weight enjoying them. Unless you really hate salty sweets or are super, duper sensitive to soy powder flavor (though this really does taste peanut-buttery), I can't imagine these would  not be a hit. Like the white chocolate sembei, I can't believe these would not make an excellent souvenir if you're in Japan. Even fussy Western palates should find these quite tasty. 

Echigoseika Fluffy Chocolate Sembei

I've known about this product since last spring when I reviewed the same company's cheese mochi sembei, but hadn't located it. The reason why I couldn't find it is that it is seasonal and is only produced between September and March. I guess they feel that it's too dangerous to put even sembei that includes chocolate out there if we're in the 5-6 months of summer weather in Japan. Since I found the cheese mochi last April, it means I just missed it.

I found these at Okashi no Machioka discount snack shop for 198 yen ($2.37). It includes 3 pouches of 20 grams (.7 oz.) each and there are about 115 calories is in about 10 balls (the contents of one pouch). You can probably find them in other markets or possibly even convenience stores since the company is a major snack maker. Note that these are not a "healthy" sembei option as the first ingredient is sugar followed by vegetable oil and then rice starch.

Some things really defy explanation because they are so unlike anything you have ever tried before. Let's start with the idea that this is sembei, but it's "fluffy" and chocolate. And the name actually describes the product accurately. These balls of rice-based puffy goodness pretty much melt in your mouth. They are soft and cool on the tongue. The exterior is very sweet with a sugary white chocolate coating. It may be hard to accept this, but they taste like vanilla ice cream. Given their texture and properties, eating them is like having sweet ice cream without the pesky need for refrigeration.

I really liked these, but I recognize them as a "sometimes" snack because of the high sugar content. They are absolutely worth a try if you can get your hands on them. The experience is both unique and enjoyable even for picky palates. Frankly, this is the kind of product that keeps me reviewing new snacks. It's rare to come across something which is so unlike anything I've had before, yet very approachable in its flavors, but when I do, it feels like hitting a home run. The only way you're not going to care for them is if strong vanilla flavor doesn't appeal to you or if you don't like fairly sweet things.

Echigoseika Cheese Mochi Puffs

I was thinking recently that the frequency with which I'd be covering rice-based salted snack foods, like sembei. I have been seeing less and less of interest that I haven't already tried. Of course, I'm underestimating the Svengali-like power that cheese has over me. I was forced by the cheese to pick up this mochi puff snack at Okashi no Machioka for 148 yen ($1.62).

These are made by a company that is new to me called Echigo Seika. They make a lot of what they call "fluffy" rice-based snacks in a variety of traditional flavors including soy and sesame. They seem to be a pretty popular company and even have a fan site with downloads. If you're interested in getting a wallpaper with some of their fluffy rice snacks, you can get them here.


The outside of the puffs is a little greasy, and you can see the oil on the outside of the packet. One packet is 85 calories, which isn't too bad, but I 'm guessing that oil is lending more caloric heft to them. There are six 15-gram (.53 oz.) packets in the bag



I expected that these were going to be some sort of crispy rice snack balls, but I was surprised to find that they are super light and melt in your mouth. I don't know if I've ever had anything quite like them from a texture viewpoint. They disintegrate rapidly when you bite into them. At first, it seemed too "powdery" to me, but I liked it more on the second puff.

The smell is of cheddar-like cheese. The flavor is similar to cheese that has leaked out of your grilled cheese sandwich and has had some time to cook on the bottom of the pan. It's a bit like the crispy cheese kibun crackers that I reviewed before, but without the stronger burnt cheese taste.

These are very interesting and I'm inspired to look around for more of this company's fluffy snacks. In particular, they have a white chocolate version which is a fluffy ball variety that I'm going to track down. I'm giving this a somewhat grudging happy rating. I wish the cheese tasted a little less over-baked, but I did like these and could see myself buying them again.