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Japanese-style peanuts

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Japanese-style peanuts
Alternative namesJapanese peanuts
Cracker nuts
Cacahuate japonés
Cacahuates japoneses
Maní japonés
TypeSnack
Place of originMexico
Created byYoshihei Nakatani
Invented1940s

Japanese-style peanuts, also known as Japanese peanuts or cracker nuts (widely known in the Spanish-speaking world as cacahuates japoneses or maní japonés),[1] are a type of snack food made from peanuts that are coated in a wheat flour dough and then fried or deep-fried.[2] They come in a variety of different flavors. The Mexican version's recipe for the extra-crunchy shell has ingredients such as wheat flour, soy sauce, water, sugar, monosodium glutamate, and citric acid.[3][4][5] The snacks are sold in sealed bags.[6]

History

Japanese-style peanuts were created in Mexico during the 1940s by Japanese immigrant Yoshihei Nakatani, the father of Yoshio and Carlos Nakatani.[7] He lost his job after the mother-of-pearl button factory he worked at, named El Nuevo Japón, was forced to close after its proprietor came under suspicion of being a spy for the Empire of Japan.[8]

Nakatani had to find alternatives to provide for his family.[9] He obtained a job at La Merced Market, where he initially sold Mexican candies called muéganos [es]. Later, he developed a new variety of fried snacks he named oranda that he named after the like-named fish. He also created a new version of a snack that reminded him of his homeland, mamekashi (seeds covered with a layer of flour with spices), that he adapted to Mexican tastes.[10][9] Nakatani sold them in packages decorated with a geisha design made by his daughter Elvia.[10] While his children tended to the family business, Nakatani and his wife Emma sold the snacks on local streets.[8] Sales of the snacks were so successful that Nakatani was able to obtain his own stall at the market.[11] With the help of Nakatani's son Armando, the family established their business under the brand Nipón in the 1950s; the name was registered as a trademark in 1977.[12]

Nakatani never registered the patent for the snack. As a result, various competitors made their own versions of Japanese-style peanuts. Nakatani's company Nipón remained independent until it was sold to Totis in 2017.[7]

Similar foods

Chinese Indonesian Frans Go established the Netherlands based company Go & Zoon (later Go-Tan) and began manufacturing borrelnootjes, peanuts coated in a crisp starch-based shell, under the name Katjang Shanghai (Shanghai nuts) in the 1950s.[13]

Thai snack food company Mae-Ruay started producing peanuts fried in a wheat flour-based batter flavoured with coconut cream under the brand name Koh-Kae in 1976.[14]

Picard Peanuts is a Canadian company that produces Chip Nuts, a snack food brand consisting of peanuts that have a potato chip coating.[15] Various flavors of potato chips are used in the product's production.[16]

An identical product is sold in Lebanon under the name "krikri".[17]

In Israel, coated peanuts (sometimes covered with sesame seeds) called kabuki[18] are a snack item.

In the United States, there exists a commercially available snack made of individual peanuts encased in a shell made of flour and whole sesame seeds. It's commonly found in health food stores and sometimes in the bulk section of conventional grocery stores.

The term "cracker nuts" was first used by the Philippine brand Nagaraya in 1968.[19]

A Japanese version originated in Okinawa, called Takorina, has the image of a Mexican charro in the bag, and it is claimed to be called "Mexican-style peanuts", though the rumour has been disproven.[20][21][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mexico: Land of the Japanese Peanut", by Eric Nusbaum, Hazlitt, June 25, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2016
  2. ^ Sietsema, Robert (January 27, 2009). "Strange Snacks of the World -- Cracker Nuts". Village Voice. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  3. ^ "A Basic Introduction to the Salty, Spicy World of Mexican Snacks" by Brooke Porter Katz, Serious Eats. Retrieved July 28, 2016
  4. ^ "Mexican Japanese Peanuts". The Grande Enchilada. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  5. ^ "Historia del cacahuate japonés, conoce todo sobre esta botana mexicana". Cardamomo (in Spanish). 21 March 2023. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Los cacahuates japoneses tienen su origen en el barrio de La Merced". Chilango (in Spanish). 2 September 2022. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Is there anything Japanese about Mexico's popular Japanese peanuts?". Mexico News Daily. 15 January 2022. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  8. ^ a b "El cacahuate japonés que nos legó la familia Nakatani". Discover Nikkei (in Spanish). 31 August 2018. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  9. ^ a b "¿SABÍAN QUE LOS FAMOSOS CACAHUATES JAPONESES NACIERON EN MÉXICO?". Relatos e historias en México (in Spanish). 22 September 2020. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Cacahuates japoneses, de México para el mundo". Código Espagueti (in Spanish). 13 May 2020. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  11. ^ "El nacimiento en México de los cacahuates japoneses y la historia de espías que esconde". Mexico Desconocido (in Spanish). 4 November 2019. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  12. ^ "¿Por qué se llaman cacahuates japoneses?". IMER ~ Radio Tropicalísima 1350 (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Go-Tan, wereldmerk met de smaak van oma" [Go-Tan, global brand with grandma's taste] (in Dutch). Chamber of Commerce of the Netherlands. 2020-01-24. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  14. ^ Jitpleecheep, Pitsinee (2019-03-04). "Climbing the global peanut hierarchy". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  15. ^ Daniszewski, Hank (January 18, 2015). "Shell shocked". The London Free Press. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  16. ^ "Hygienists offer a gift from the heart". Northumberland Today. February 2, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  17. ^ Kitchen, Leanne (2016-11-02). "Meet the addictive little snack called kri kri". Food. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  18. ^ "nuthut.com".
  19. ^ "Heritage". Nagaraya. Retrieved May 10, 2022. In 1968, Nagaraya Cracker Nuts and Kabaya Pretzels were introduced in the Philippines by a small, enterprising company.
  20. ^ "サクッとスパイシー 沖縄県産島唐辛子使用 タコリーナ送料について". Todoq Okinawa (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  21. ^ "Cuál fue el origen de los cacahuates japoneses". Infobae (in Spanish). 30 June 2022. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
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