About food in Japan

My top 3 recommendation from FOODEX JAPAN 2012

This week FOODEX JAPAN, one of the biggest food and beverage trade shows in Japan, was taken place at Makuhari Messe. There we found and tasted many food and beverage products come from across Japan. Some are new ideas and others are traditional ones. Here we selected three products that we can recommend the most among many we found there.

 

Haccho Miso Curry (八丁味噌カレー) from Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture

The curry sauce is produced by a small "Ryori-Ryokan" (料理旅館, Japanese traditional inn featuring its local cuisine especially). Normally Ryokans do not serve curry-rice to guests, as it is rather daily home-cooking food. The product actually originated from meal provided on the ryokan's staff during their break time. The unique point is that the curry sauce is made with the city's local product Haccho Miso paste. The miso adds sweet flavour into the spicy hot curry and it makes the sauce tender and leaves distant Japanese taste.  Needless to say, it is the most popular souvenir gift at the accommodation. 

 

 

Satsuma Sparkling Yuzudon (薩摩スパークリング　ゆずどん) from Kagoshima, Kyushu region

It is sparkling wine made by mixing Kyushu region's distilled sake, shochu, and fresh natural Yuzu citrus. Even before taking the wine into the mouth, fine scent of Yuzu from the glass must strike your mind. We have many flavoured sparkling wine around the world but it is rare to find such real fresh, non-artificial, and strong (but never be too much) citrus fruit flavour. 

 

 

Apple jelly from Aomori

The last one has not been in the market yet. We tasted its sample product at the trade show. The jelly contains a lot of grated apple pulp. It is simple as product maybe but the pure and rich taste of apple is impressive. Hope it will be in the market soon. 

Sorry, we will disclose the name and image of the product when it is officially available.

 

These food and drink are availale at limited places within their origin regions and major department stores sometimes, apart from online shops.

Don't miss a chance to get them if you visit their regions

FOODEX JAPAN 2012 (6th to 9th March) official site: http://www3.jma.or.jp

*The trade show is exclusive for professionals related food and beverage production and distributions.

"hekkonda" (dented) terrine de chocolat by es koyama

Mr. Susumu Koyama is one of the most popular confectioners in Japan. Some of you may know his name because of his prize "the Most Outstanding Foreign Chocolatier Award" obtained at the 2011 Salon du Chocolat in Paris.

Fluffy roll cake "Koyama Roll" and Baumkuchen produced with high quality rich eggs are two main products of Mr. Koyama's patisserie located in residential area of Hyogo Prefecture. The 1200 square meters theme-park-like world of "es koyama" might be too far for many people to visit by traveling for 40 minutes from Kobe or Osaka, while a group of his shops each specialized in pastry, chocolate, jam, bread and ice cream as well as atelier of Baumkuchen, cafe and cooking school must be fun place for sweets lovers and worth spending almost a day there. 

Here on this blog, we would like to introduce his unique character or a sence of fun, something different from es koyama's main products roll cake or Baumkuchen that must be loved by everyone from children to elderly.

 

We found the most popular confectionary's new product at Salon du Chocolat Tokyo, another version of the highly influential event presented in Japan last month.

 

The chocolate cake is called "hekkonda", literally "dented" in English. 

Just as the top of the box, looks like mountain...

 

 

Opening the package, we found a box inside colored in vivid pink unexpectedly and a message from the chef in English on top of the cake wrapped with silver foil. 

 

 

"hekkonda" terrine de chocolat is named after the shape of it.

Through the baking process, most part of the cake has been swelled out,

while only the central part has been sank and been lower than the edge.

The award-winning patisserie chef Mr. Koyama felt it quite interesting and

has named the new product after the cake's look "hekkonda".

Of course not only the cake's name is significant. 

The chocolate cake has very rich cacao flavor 

 in the soft and fresh texture.  

As the Salon du Chocolat recognized, it is surely the work

by "the Most Outstanding Foreign Chocolatier" in the world.

 

Apart from es koyama flagship boutique in Hyogo prefecture, his products are sometimes available at special promotion events at major department stores mainly in Kansai region(Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and surroundings) or through its online store.

 

Shop name: es koyama

Website (Japanese): http://www.es-koyama.com

Website (global): http://www.es-koyama.com/global/index.html

Movie at 2011 Salon du Chocolat Paris: 

http://www.es-koyama.com/movie2/movie.html

 

 

eBook "KIBO" (希望) Recipes & Stories from Japan's Tohoku

It is one week ahead to the first memorial day of the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on 11th March 2011. This week an eBook related to cooking of Tohoku region, where it got the most serious damage by the natural disaster, has been published in English.

The book, called "KIBO (希望)-Brimming with hope", features recipes and stories collected from Tohoku region by the author American lady Mrs. Elizabeth Andoh who has lived in Japan for decades and hold cooking classes in English as a Japanese culinary authority. 

On the short-time project publishing the over-200 page ebook by the first memorial date, while her two previous publishing work "Kansha" and "Washoku" taken for 5 years, Mrs. Andoh selected and presented recipes of Tohoku local cuisine with great support of her team volunteers. The recipe book aims at preserving food culture of Tohoku region through replicating their cuisine in other parts of Japan and the world. Upon picking up recipes for the book from tens of Tohoku's local cuisine menu, she put the priority on whether it can be cooked with ingredients widely available across the globe, while introducing some the region's local products such as Sendai Miso or chrysanthemums edible flower. So get a copy online and try Tohoku region's specialty at your home.

Almost a month prior to the publishing date, Mrs. Andoh hold a party at her Tokyo Kitchen studio to introduce the book concept. Luckily I had been a part of it and tasted some food appeared on the ebook with nice cups of sake also from Tohoku region. Some of them are new or unfamiliar even for us, Japanese but from other region.

Here are some photos we took at the party. 

She prepared a small box lunch with

Harako Meshi (Salmon rice topped with red caviar

Sasa kamaboko(Fish sausage patties)

Shiso Maki (Walnut-miso stuffed shiso leaves)

Shira ae Kaki utsuwa (Persimmons stuffed with fall fruits in pine nuts, tofu sauce)

Kiku-bana to enokidake no nihaizu (Chrysanthemum and Enoki mushroom salad).

Recipe for all these menu can be found on the ebook.

Cups beside the box meal are for sake tasting.

Also she showed us Sendai miso used for the meal as well as bottles of sake from Tohoku. The region is one of the biggest producing area of sake and has gotten fame for the highest quality of rice wine.

 

Also it is worth to mention about sparkling sake we tasted there, SUZUNE that won the best gold award on the sparkling sake category by Japan Sake Brewery Association.

 

 

By the way, why the food on the cover page is onigiri, rice balls with dried seaweed?

Mrs. Andoh expressed it as "pressed rice sandwiches" on the book. Rice ball is often provided for lunch box or a quick bite. Every Japanese is familiar with the food since his/her childhood. As described in the book, onigiri, the Japanese traditional finger food is easy to cook, pack and bring. So onigiri (rice balls) have been the first food that the earthquake and tsunami survivors got at evacuation sites after the shocking event. Then it represents Kibo "Brimming with hope", I guess.

The e-book costs only USD3.99 and still a portion of it will be donated to Japan's recoevery efforts.     

 

Related links

Taste of Culture cooking class by the ebook's author Mrs. Elizabeth Andoh

http://tasteofculture.com/

About Kibo "Brimming with hope" and related events

http://www.kanshacooking.com/kibo-book-tour-events.php

 

To purchase Kibo "Brimming with hope" on e-book stores

http://www.randomhouse.com/book/219228/kibo-brimming-with-hope-by-elizabeth-andoh