Fukutaro Menbei Mentaiko Crackers Hot & Spicy

The ingredient order tells the story.

In the plain Menbei, mentaiko comes before chilli pepper on the list; here the two swap places.

Chilli now outranks the roe by weight, and Fukutaro has built this version for people who found the original too gentle.

The company’s own pitch is blunt about it — for anyone who wants something hotter, and a match for beer.

Mentaiko itself already carries heat.

Pollock roe cured in a chilli marinade is the food Fukuoka is known for, and the standard Menbei captures that warmth at a level most people can eat continuously.

The hot version pushes past that into something with genuine bite.

What keeps it from being a novelty is that the rest of the construction is unchanged: squid and octopus worked into a starch dough, a savoury tare, beet sugar for a faint sweetness underneath.

The heat sits on top of real depth rather than substituting for it, and it builds across a few sheets rather than hitting at once.

One detail worth noting: the hot version actually contains less salt than the plain — 1.9 g per 100 g against 2.3 g — so the impression of intensity comes from the chilli alone.

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

Fukutaro also sells this one in a two-sheet single packet, which is a sensible way to test your tolerance before committing.

About this item
Item Name : Menbei Hot & Spicy
Brand : Fukutaro
Item Form : Starch Cracker
Allergens: Wheat, squid, soybean
Number of Items : 8 Counts, 16 Counts (Box of 1)