Hachinohe Senbei-jiru

Hachinohe senbei-jiru is a soup associated with the Hachinohe area of Aomori Prefecture. Its distinctive ingredient is Nanbu senbei, a wheat cracker made from flour, salt and water. The crackers are broken into pieces and simmered with meat and vegetables. A local recipe uses chicken, burdock, carrot, cabbage, mushrooms and konnyaku noodles in a soy-seasoned broth.^[1]

The crackers absorb the broth and soften during cooking, while retaining some bite. Ingredients vary between households. The wider tradition extends into northern Iwate, where wheat-based foods were useful in areas with unreliable rice harvests. Hachinohe has promoted the soup as a local specialty, and it is served in restaurants as well as homes.^[1][2]