Matsunaga Shiruko Sand Cracker

Shiruko Sand Cracker is the savoury-leaning member of the family, and the difference starts with the word cracker.

Where the standard Shiruko Sand is a sweet biscuit sandwiching azuki paste, this one is built thin and small — bite-sized, with a light sakutto snap and a sweetness Matsunaga Seika describes as honoka, faint.

The azuki is still there, worked into the dough rather than layered thickly, so it reads as a background flavour rather than the point of the thing.

The recipe diverges from the original in a telling way.

The apple jam that gives the standard Shiruko Sand its fruit edge is gone; in its place are malt extract and caramel colouring, which push the flavour toward something toastier and less sweet.

Sweetened condensed skimmed milk stays, and salt does more work here than in the biscuit version. The result is closer to a lightly sweetened cracker than to a confection.

Shiruko is oshiruko, the sweet azuki soup Japanese households drink in winter with mochi in it, and Matsunaga Seika has built its entire business on translating that flavour into Western-style baked goods since 1966.

The company sits in Komaki, Aichi, and sells little else. 60 g to a bag — easy to keep picking at, which is rather the problem with it.

About this item
Item Name : Shiruko Sando Cracker
Brand : Matsunaga Seika
Item Form : Wheat Cracker
Allergens: Milk, wheat
Number of Items : 60g (Pack of 1)