Kasugai Ika Peana Squid-Coated Peanut Snack

Some flavor combinations take a moment to understand — and then, once understood, become impossible to improve on.

Ika Peana is that kind of combination. The name says it plainly: ika (squid) and peana (peanut), two ingredients that have no obvious business being together and yet, in this particular form, produce something that feels not only natural but inevitable.

The sweetness of the peanut and the savory depth of squid meet in the coating, and the result is a snack that is neither quite salty nor quite sweet — just deeply, persistently good in a way that is difficult to put down.

The construction is deliberate. Each peanut is carefully wrapped in a coating made from real squid worked generously into the batter — not a squid flavoring or an extract, but actual squid, kneaded in until the coating carries its full umami character throughout.

The wrapped peanuts are then baked slowly over an open flame, the direct heat building a crisp, lightly toasted exterior that seals the coating around each nut and develops the squid’s savory notes into something roasted and complex.

The peanut inside remains whole, with its natural sweetness and clean, satisfying crunch intact — the contrast between the crisp outer shell and the firm, yielding nut at the center is part of what makes each piece worth returning to.

The flavor that follows is layered in a way that plain roasted peanuts are not.

The squid coating delivers its umami first — warm, savory, with a faint oceanic depth that distinguishes it from any other coated nut snack — and the peanut’s sweetness rounds everything out from beneath, keeping the whole thing balanced and accessible.

It is the kind of snack that pairs easily with cold beer, that suits the desk as well as the table, and that disappears from the bag faster than any serious snacking occasion would justify.

A long-loved Japanese bean snack from Kasugai, one of Japan’s most trusted confectionery makers since 1925.

About this item
Item Name : Ika Peana
Brand : Kasugai
Item Form : Been Sweets
Number of Items : 47g (Pack of 1)