Mikawaya Ajiwai Ebisen Ebi Mangetsu Shrimp Crackers

Ajiwai means flavour, or the act of savouring something, and Mikawaya uses it here to signal that this is the fuller-bodied member of the Ebi Mangetsu family.

The base is the same full-moon disc the brand is built on — thin, pale, round, with the airy brittleness that shatters on contact and then dissolves rather than needing to be chewed. What changes is the depth of the shrimp itself.

Mikawaya Seika has made ebi senbei its entire business, and the company is unusually serious about the raw material.

Its standard Ebi Mangetsu uses whole shrimp alongside dried Antarctic krill and aosa seaweed, building a marine savouriness into the dough rather than dusting seafood powder over the top.

Prawn crackers are a familiar category across Asia, but the Japanese version is drier and lighter than most, and Mikawaya’s are at the delicate end even by that standard.

The salt is assertive, the shrimp arrives immediately, and the finish runs long.

At 130 g this is the large bag — nearly twice the standard 75 g size, and the format bought for a household rather than a single sitting.

It keeps for over 160 days, contains nothing that melts, and pairs with beer as naturally as anything in the Japanese savoury-snack aisle.

Also good broken over a bowl of soup, which is how Mikawaya itself suggests using them.

About this item
Item Name : Ajiwai Ebisen Ebi Mangetsu
Brand : Mikawaya Seika
Item Form : Starch Cracker
Number of Items : 130g (Pack of 1)