Hot Kakidane Arare

KAKIMOCHI, ARARE, SENBEI
The Japanese rice cracker, arare, was brought to Hawai'i by Japanese plantation workers in the early to mid-1800's. This crunchy cracker is made of glutinous rice and comes in a variety of shapes, flavors, and styles. It's usually baked and coated with a mixture of salty soy sauce and sugar, but some varieties are fried, wrapped in seaweed, or flavored with sesame seeds; others have a peanut in the center. In Hawai'i, these snacks are also called kakimochi (fried rice paste) or mochi crunch. Generally very low in fat, these snacks are concentrated sources of carbohydrate, containing more than 400 calories per 4-oz. bag. They are also relatively high in sodium (~130-400 mg per serving), something most Americans need to limit to less than 1500 mg per day.