Fukutaro Menbei Mentaiko Crackers Mayonnaise

Mentaiko and mayonnaise is a fixed pairing in Japan.

Mentai-mayo appears on izakaya menus, fills onigiri at every convenience store, goes on pizza and into pasta, and has been a standing option at Japanese fast-food chains for decades.

The logic is that mayonnaise here is not the tart Western condiment but a richer, egg-yolk-heavy version made with rice vinegar — Japanese mayonnaise is its own thing — and its fat rounds off the salt and chilli of the cured roe without dulling them.

Fukutaro applies that to Menbei.

The base is unchanged: squid and octopus worked into a starch dough, seasoned with mentaiko, chilli and a tare, pressed into thin flat sheets.

What the mayonnaise seasoning adds is a gentle acidity and a deeper body, so the heat arrives softened and the finish is creamier than the plain version’s clean savoury snap.

Fukutaro describes it as the one that suits everybody, young and old, which in practice means it is the easier entry point of the two — less assertive, more immediately likeable.

Menbei launched in 2001 and has passed its twenty-fifth year as the default Hakata souvenir, with mayonnaise now one of the standard flavours rather than a novelty.

Eight sealed packets of two sheets, 180-day shelf life.

It also does something the plain version does not: crumbled over a salad or a bowl of rice, the mayo seasoning works as a dressing in its own right.

About this item
Item Name : Menbei Mayonnaise
Brand : Fukutaro
Item Form : Starch Cracker
Allergens: Wheat, egg, milk, squid, soybean, apple
Number of Items : 8 Counts, 16 Counts (Box of 1)