Kitakyushu Menbei (with Iwashi seaweed cooked in rice bran)

Kitakyushu Menbei (with Iwashi Nuka (seaweed) cooked in rice)

Fukuoka is famous for mentaiko (cod roe). Various souvenirs using mentaiko are sold, and among them, Hakata's "menbei" is a classic.

Menbei is a rice cracker kneaded with Fukutaro's famous mentaiko and special ingredients. In addition to the standard plain and mayonnaise flavors, there are also "local versions" available.

The one we found this time is "Kitakyushu Menbei (with rice crackers cooked with rice bran). It is a local menbei from Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and is priced at 1,080 yen (tax included) for a package of 12 bags of 2 pieces each.

Kitakyushu Menbei (with Iwashi seaweed cooked in rice bran)
Have you seen it?

Iwashi Nuka-Yaki is a local dish of Kokura, Kitakyushu, where sardines are cooked in nuka-miso (a type of soybean paste). The smell peculiar to bluefish is removed by the nuka-miso, and the flavors of the vegetable extract and sansho (Japanese pepper) soaked in the nuka-bed bring out the best of the fish.

Kitakyushu menbei are made with ingredients such as sardine cooked in bran, squid, octopus, and cod roe. The seafood flavor spreads softly through the chewy dough. The mentaiko (cod roe) is just as good as the sardines, and it gradually makes its presence felt. The spicy and tangy taste stimulates the tongue, and the taste afterwards is completely cod roe.

Kitakyushu Menbei (with Iwashi seaweed cooked in rice bran)
Sardines [Mentaiko (cod roe)

Before eating it, I thought that the "fermented" smell of the bran might be too strong. But it was mild and mild in a good sense. However, it is mild and mild in a good sense, but the umami is well utilized. The aroma of sansho (Japanese pepper) that lingers in the nose at the end is refreshing.

Kitakyushu Menbei (with Iwashi seaweed cooked in rice bran)
Thin but filling.

The packaging also draws attention to Kitakyushu. On the front is a design of Kokura Castle and the Yamakasa festival of Kitakyushu's representative festival, "Wasshoi Summer Festival of One Million". The large fireworks shot up into the night sky are eye-catching.

Kitakyushu Menbei (with Iwashi seaweed cooked in rice) package
gorgeous

On the reverse side, tourist attractions of Kitakyushu are lined up. It is very convenient because it is written even the business hours, a charge, and traffic access. It seems to become a guidebook of Kitakyushu.

Kitakyushu Menbei (with Iwashi seaweed cooked in rice) package
I wish I could go.