Shirafuji Ika Mirin Age Fried Squid Crackers

Shirafuji Seika makes these by working squid into the dough and then frying rather than baking — the age in the name means fried — which gives them a texture the company describes as kariQ, a sharp, dry snap rather than the airy shatter of a thin cracker.

The glaze is amadare, the sweet soy-and-mirin tare that Japanese confectioners use across the savoury-snack category.

Mirin is what makes that glaze work.

It is a sweet rice wine used almost exclusively in cooking — brewed rather than distilled, low in alcohol — and Japanese kitchens value it for the glossy lacquer it gives to anything glazed and grilled.

Teriyaki depends on it; so does the sauce on eel. Against squid, which carries its own mineral savouriness, the mirin rounds the soy sauce out and stops the whole thing from reading as merely salty.

Sweet arrives first, then the squid, then a long savoury finish.

The base is starch rather than rice flour, which is what lets the crackers fry up light despite their substance.

This is the 77 g bag, with a 150-day shelf life and nothing in it that melts — a practical thing to keep in a cupboard.

Beer is the obvious partner, and sake works as well. Shirafuji notes that the squid used is non-GMO.

About this item
Item Name : Ika Mirin Age
Brand : Shirafuji Seika
Item Form : Starch Cracker
Allergens: Squid, shrimp, wheat, soybean
Number of Items : 77g (Pack of 1)