Tasty Japanese wasp rice crackers, Jibachi Senbei

Want to taste a very local Japanese food delicacy? In Omachi, 120 miles northwest of Tokyo, there is a fan club Omachi Jibachi Aikokai (Omachi digger wasps lovers group) that has teamed up with a local biscuit maker to create jibachi senbei, or digger wasp rice crackers.
Elderly wasp hunters from the village, who are mostly in their 80s, catch the insects in nearby forests, boil them in water, dry and sprinkle them over the cracker mix, which is then stamped by hot iron cracker cutters.

Five or six black digger wasps are added to the rice cracker each, clearly visible to the naked eye and while the senior citizens love them, young Japanese see the bugs and refuse to eat the senbei!
via: Yahoo News
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October 21st, 2007 at 8:31 pm
no wonder their teeth are black.
haha.
October 27th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
[…] In Omachi, 120 miles northwest of Tokyo, there is a fan club Omachi Jibachi Aikokai (Omachi digger wasps lovers group) that has teamed up with a local biscuit maker to create jibachi senbei, or digger wasp rice crackers. [Japansugoi] […]
June 30th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
[…] 1, 2, 3, […]