A lot is packed into a little cracker
These take a dozen ingredients to get the taste of wasabi
reader wrote to me concerned that his favourite snack had “a lot of stuff in there”. And he was worried that “my favourite snack with a slice of blue vein cheese is actually not that good for me!”
Rice crackers are a very popular — and quite cheap — snack for those who are gluten free or simply prefer the crisp, crunchy taste of rice rather than wheat.
I have to admit that I once had quite a bad reaction to these wasabi crackers before I had my gall bladder out, so I am keen to help this reader and see what might have caused it. This is the main basis of a rice cracker, the advantage of rice flour is that it is gluten free so great for those who have an allergy to gluten. This is a healthy oil because it is free of trans fats and low in saturated fats. It also has Oryzanol, which is believed to lower bad cholesterol and another substance called Tocotrienols, which are converted into vitamin E, a wellknown antioxidant. This is dried garlic added in here for flavour. We are all familiar with wasabi as an addition to our sushi. It is similar to horseradish and the root is grated to provide the hot, mustard- like flavour. Unfortunately, some wasabi sold outside of Japan can be a mixture of horseradish, mustard, artificial food colouring and flavours but these crackers are giving you the real deal, dried and ground into a powder. This is a common ingredient in chips and crackers. I understand that a thin layer of this is sprayed on to the chips or crackers, which then helps to absorb the added flavours. It is made from corn, rice, potato starch, wheat and also tapioca. It i s made by
12 additives to achieve wasabi flavour. Includes flavour enhancers. Uses rice flour and rice bran oil.