Japanese Rice Crackers: The Originator of Fortune Cookies and Kyoto’s Famous Inari Senbei

When visiting Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto there are a lot of shops and stands along the way to the shrine. There is one store that is worth stopping by and it is famous for Japanese rice crackers. The rice crackers you’ll find aren’t your regular senbei or karinto, but Matsuya (おせんの里松屋) is famous for their fox shaped rice crackers as well as a certain cracker, or “cookie”, that we weren’t expecting.

🥠Japanese Fortune Cookies🥠

Almost every American knows about fortune cookies, and some people know that despite getting it when you order Chinese takeaway, they’re an American creation….or so we thought. The storekeeper told us the Chinese American who made the fortune cookie big in America got the idea after his trip to Japan. The man came to visit and during his stay he stopped by Matsuya where he got a fortune cookie, loved the idea, and took it back with him to America.

🥠Kyoto’s Famous Inari Rice Cracker🥠

Their fortune cookies aren’t the only thing to be interested in though. The predecessor of Matsuya went to an inari senbei (rice cracker) (稲荷せんべい) shop in Seki City, Gifu Prefecture when he was young and learned how to make “hatchu miso senbei” (Japanese rice cracker with hatcho miso glaze) (八丁味噌煎餅). This hatcho miso rice cracker is said to be the source of the inari rice cracker we know today. The predecessor took what he learned and wanted to see if it would be possible to make a rice cracker that suits Kyoto’s own unique taste using a different type of miso that’s popularly used in Kyoto (white miso, where Gifu uses red miso). It was after WWII that he opened up a store and said to make inari senbei a well-established confectionery of Fushimi Inari Shrine.

These cute fox mask rice crackers have become the known souvenir from Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto. If you decide to take a bite (we did!), you will get the delicious, sweet taste thanks to Kyoto’s white miso.

★Matsuya (おせんの里松屋)
Google Maps
Business hours: 8am～6pm
Closest station: Fushimi-Inari Station
Website: http://www.k-matsuya.jp/

Originally published at www.japankuru.com.