This morning I thought I'd introduce a Japanese snack. I don't do many food reviews on this blog, but every now and then one pops up.

Shōga Tsumami (生姜つまみ) are one of my kids' favorite snacks. I usually call them ginger snaps in English, even though they aren't quite like the cookie of the same name. They are more crispy, closer to sweet cracker than cookie, and pack a ginger taste.

Anyway, whatever you call them, they are good. We pick up a bag every now and then and give them out to the kids one at a time for reward for doing things. They are a bit too sweet for me, but the kids love them.

These are on my mind this morning as I look around and see this half full bag on the table. The wife must have rewarded the kids for something or other last night, maybe doing their homework early.

I actually wouldn't recommend these as the best Japanese snack. If you want a more common snack, or a better one in my opinion, a senbei (a rice cracker) is much better. But I don't like sweet things so my opinion is biased. Japanese sweets in general aren't nearly as sweet as US sweets, but even so... I'm just not much for sweet tastes. Crunching on senbei while drinking beer is one of those small pleasures you get living in this country.

But anyway, if you do like sweet things, however, and can find a bag of these at the local import shop, check them out.

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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.

I'm a sucker for anything ginger... But I'm with you, too sweet and I'm out.

Don't get me wrong, these aren't too bad, especially compared to US sweets. Just with me, any sweet is too much. haha. I'm the weird guy who eats the 99% cacao bars of chocolate because I prefer that complete lack of sweetness.

oh those are what they are. i have always seen them around and thought that they were senbei too.

Easy to make that mistake until you try them. If you like sweet things, though, give them a shot next time you come across them.

will try some next time

I've heard there isn't much that is as sweet as the stuff you get here. Even foreign chocolate is much less sweet.

I don't know if it's true, but I've heard the same thing from many people. When Japanese people I know return from trips to the US, often one of the first things they tell me is how sweet US sweets are.

Even some of our savory stuff is pretty sweet sometimes quite honestly. I actually prefer a pizza sauce that has a little bit of sweet to it, but many people do not.

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Interesting.. I'm guessing by they're not thinly slices of ginger fried into crackers? Are they fried crackers with ginger flavour?

Interesting, I bet they're good. I'm not as into sweet stuff as I used to be. Sipping some cold beer is always a good thing though!

Japanese Ginger Snaps

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