Japanese-style peanuts

Floured deep-fried peanuts

Japanese-style peanuts

Alternative names| Japanese peanuts
Cracker nuts
Cacahuate japonés
Cacahuates japoneses
Maní japonés
Type| Snack
Place of origin| Mexico
Created by| Yoshihei Nakatani
Invented| 1940s
Main ingredients| Peanuts, wheat flour

*   Media: Japanese-style peanuts

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 roasted.[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 often sold in sealed bags,[6] but can also be found in bulk containers.

## History

[edit]

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

[edit]

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] In China, the snack is often called "fish-skin peanuts".

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]

The term "cracker nuts" was first used by the Philippine brand Nagaraya in 1968.[18]

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.[19][20][6]

## See also

[edit]

* Food portal

* Beer Nuts
* Borrelnootje
* Kaki no tane
* Koh-Kae
* List of snack foods
* Nagaraya
* Want Want

## References

[edit]

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. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. 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 22 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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. Archived from the original on 2022-03-26. 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. ^ "Heritage". Nagaraya. Retrieved May 10, 2022. "In 1968, Nagaraya Cracker Nuts and Kabaya Pretzels were introduced in the Philippines by a small, enterprising company."
19. ^ "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.
20. ^ "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.