Jibachi Senbei first made news headlines in the mid-2010s, when the members of an Omachi digger wasp fan club called Omachi Jibachi Aikokai teamed up with a local baker to create a unique snack that truly incorporated the essence of the digger wasp. Apparently, they meant that quite literally, as they ended up with a cracker filled with dried digger wasps.
Did you know that wasps have the highest protein content of any edible insect? That probably doesn’t mean much to most people, as it’s not like you’re eating Jibachi Senbei for protein, but it’s the only selling point we could find, apart from the snack’s weirdness.
I can think of few things less appetizing than crackers filled with dozens of black, dried wasps, but then again, I’ve never been much of a wasp guy. Something about biting into the dried carcass of an insect never really appealed to me for some reason, but Jibachi Senbei are reportedly quite the novelty snack in Japan, especially among seniors.
To create the world-famous wasp crackers, the elderly wasp hunters of Omachi Jibachi Aikokai set traps in the forest, boil and dry the wasps, and then give them to a local baker who incorporates them into crackers. The dough is said to be mildly sweet, while the dried insects taste similar to burned raisins, which certainly doesn’t sound very appetizing.
The wasp species used to make Jibachi Senbei (Vespula flaviceps or Kurosuzume bachi) are digger wasps safe for human consumption, but that doesn’t necessarily make them delicacies. The smell you’re hit by when opening a pack of these unique treats can allegedly be compared to that of fish food, which makes a lot of sense, but itsn’t the best selling point for the crackers.
Invented in Omachi, Jibachi Senbei wasp crackers can be found at local markets and select gourmet stores in the Japanese city, with some tourists traveling her specifically to give them a try.
The post Jibachi Senbei – Japan’s Unique Wasp-Infused Crackers first appeared on Oddity Central - Collecting Oddities.
