We discovered a strange snack in a souvenir shop in Ama no Hashidate: caramelized baby crabs! It looks fun and we are curiouswhat texture it can have. We buy a bag with a dozen crabs for 350 yen, which is not very expensive. Come on, let's be crazy, go on an adventure! Let's just hope it does not break our teeth... LOL ;p
So already at first sight, these are baby crabs small sizes, they are red andwhen you see them in the bag, you will be afraid of breaking them. But it's ok, they are glued to each other so they do not move too much in the bag. When opening the bag, the smell of the sea, iodine, shellfish, comes to the nose rather quickly. It smells very strong like sea! The crabs are small enough to handle easily and you can eat a whole one stroke. The texture is not very hard, a little sticky because of the caramel but surprisingly easy to chew. It has a little taste of crab, I'd say it's more like a shrimp crisp taste with a caramel. Ultimately, it is not bad. The taste is not too weird and it's funny enough to have it as an aperitif. It is quite easy to eat 2 or 3 but after that it quickly becomes sickening because it's still very sweet. This is a snack that is suitable as an aperitif and it can be fun to put it on the table.
If you want to bring something original and authentic for the aperitif, the kanikko are the snacks that correspond perfectly to the description. In addition, it is good, a little salty-sweet and fun!