Happy Turn Soy Sauce Cheese Flavor

Soy sauce... and cheese? It seems totally unlikely, yet at the same time these are both such staple flavors that it's surprising that they aren't usually combined. And I suspect it's not a bad combination, as they both share tanginess and saltiness with each other... though maybe it could come off to strong. If there's any medium to try this on though, a rice cracker is the one to do it.

To my surprise, all of these rice crackers are individually wrapped inside. It was the same for the rice crackers I had yesterday though, so maybe it's a trend. But they know nobody's going to open up this bag and just eat one, so why package only one at a time? Anyways, the actual cracker has a pretty peculiar shape, almost looks like a madeleine from this angle, though I doubt that's the look they'd be going for. The cheese is the most dominant smell here and it's quite strong, hopefully not overpowering. The soy sauce is there too, and for now at least, they don't seem to clash.

The taste of this snack actually reminds me a lot of the umaibos that I've been having. Definitely reminds me more of puffed corn, though I can taste the rice. The cheese, unfortunately, feels a little cheap here, and with the depth it had in some of the other cheese snacks I think it would be an amazing snack. The soy sauce is also a good idea, but altogether these two flavors do come off a bit strong, even with the soy sauce taking more of the supporting role. The crunch also, is just over the edge of too much, it may be personal preferences, but I like my snacks with just a little more give when I bite them so they melt a bit, which of course cheese is known to do. So... it's a nice idea to put these two flavors together, but needs a bit of work.

Rating: 4 - Boof!

Sankaku Crackers

Not exactly sure what these are, but at a price of 30 cents I couldn't go that wrong right? Okay so they're not a staple Japanese snack or anything, but Sankaku means triangle, so these are going to be triangle shaped, and have a vegetable flavor consisting of broccoli, tomato, and carrot if the package is any indication.

Already I'm liking the packaging of these crackers. They're in a plastic tray so there's no mess in my den and even quite neatly arranged for being jostled around in shipping. They also look quite delectable. Each one has horizontal marks as if they were cooked on a grill, and there is a nice brown on all the edges. I don't see too much of a trace of vegetables, but I do smell them. They're faint but I can pick out hints of each of them in the scent. Does that mean my sniffer is getting better, or that these are well made?

As it turns out they're quite well made. The texture is almost exactly like Ritz crackers - buttery and a crispy outer edge that then breaks away into flaky goodness as it dissolves. You don't taste the veggies at first, but then as the cracker goes down you can get all their flavors. It's subtle but a perfect match for all the other flavors, brings to mind a stir fry where they're covered in a buttery sauce. Really, I can't stop eating these, they have all the addictiveness of some of the best American crackers! While they don't need it, I can imagine putting them in some sort of dipping sauce to up the flavor and texture component even more. But I'm not sure what would be best... ranch? Tonkatsu? Who knows. But these are a steal and quite the surprise at only 30 cents!

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

Sweet Soy Sauce Cracker

It seems like there are a bunch of these types of crackers around, considering I couldn't find the brand name of this one, but I suppose "cute pictures" may be enough of a brand name this time around. Just their smiles make me want to eat these - but the sound of a soy sauce flavored cracker is quite enticing too. If these are truly a Japanese snack staple, hopefully it holds up well.

Well, the crackers sure give off a pleasant first impression. I was expecting something thin, maybe flavored with powder - but these look practically freshly baked! Lots of interesting variations in the texture with some crispy parts and some lighter parts. And they're plenty thick - hopefully the inside is as flavorful and interesting as the outside looks. Their smell also falls on the more savory side of the spectrum but I definitely get the sweet umami flavor of the soy sauce in my sniffer.

The crunch is very interesting as I anticipated. All the little aberrations make these a joy to munch on, my teeth finding all the little crevices to sink into, and it's a very satisfying crunch too. The soy sauce flavor isn't as prominent as I would think it was - it's flavored like cracker first and foremost, I almost taste a bit of a rice flavor from this, which wouldn't be too out of the ordinary if that's what it was, and the soy sauce is a light accent on top of that. But it never tastes flavorless, there's plenty of interesting things going on. I think the soy sauce flavor could still use improvement though, it lacks the depth that I've had from real soy sauce. But this was a nice pleasant surprise and I'll sure be munching on more of these in the future!

Rating: 7 - Aroof!

Onigiri Senbei

I got all excited at first reading this snack name because I thought it would actually be similar to an onigiri, but turns out it's an onigiri shaped rice cracker (senbei). Still could be very good, actually when I was a wee little pup I was allergic to wheat, so any time I wanted something starchy I would go for rice cakes instead. So I very well know the magic of rice snacks, but let's see how this one measures up.