About food in Japan

Tea or free gift? what you buy...

We are not able to imagine how many kinds of ready-made drinks available in Japan, whether in can or in PET bottle. Beverage makers face severe competition to get space on the shelfs of convenience shops across this country.

To attract both consumers and convenience shop owners, major soft drink producers are likely to attach a packet of small gift to their bottled drink products.

You will find something like this on a shelf of PET bottle drinks. A small plastic bag is hang from a bottle-neck.

The free small gift depends on the target of the drink.

Recently launched the promotion by Lipton must keep attention of Japanese girls and sweets-lovers. It offers original mobile phone charms collaborated with Belgium high-end chocolate shop, Pierre Marcolini. The charmes are in shape of miniature sweets by the chocolate brand; tablet, colourfull ice cream or biscuit..

They really look like real sweets apart from the size.

Yes, the size, as they are to be "a charm for mobile-phone", they are so small to eat

At least they are enough attractive to entertain people who find it with your mobile phone.

 

Related website

Lipton Sweets Collection : http://www.lipton-sweets.jp/

 

Tsukemono(漬物, Japanese pickles)

Japanese pickles is called "Tsukemono(つけもの、漬物)". In the old days, it was a way to keep vegetables available during winter, when no any other way of storage such as fridge, freezer exists.

Across Japan, various kinds of vegetables, whether it is leaf or radish, can be found as tsukemono. In many cases, they are pickled with salt, vineger or soya sauce. Some of them are considered as one of the local specialieis. Eveywhere, they are a good match with a bowl of rice as well as a cup of sake.

Kintame is a traditional tsukemono house originated from Kyoto.
We can taste the traditional specialities at the casual restaurant located in a major department store, very close to Tokyo station.

I ordered a special menu which includes seven kinds of tsukemono and other house made products. With a plenty of rice, we can try these preservative food. It is really healthy meal with variety in vegetables and low calorie.

Restaurant name: Kintame
Website: http://www.kintame.co.jp/
Location: 12th floor of Daimaru department store, Tokyo (just in front of Tokyo station)

Starbucks coffee at convenience shops

The international coffee shop chain collaborated with a Japanese major beverage company for the brand's first canned coffee. The new products, called "STARBUCKS DOUBLE SHOT" are available at major convenience stores in Tokyo and surrounding regions.

This is the second attempt of collaboration between Starbucks and Suntry for develpping "ready to drink" coffee available not at the coffee shops but at other retail stores, after the first work on cupped coffee. Canned coffee is quite popular especially among Japanese businessmen and is often taken as breakfast or in office. It is much less expensive than a cup of coffee available at Starbucks stores but the quality also matches with the price. I believe that is the opinions of majority.

STARBUCKS DOUBLE SHOT costs Yen170 for 140g. It is much expensive compared with other canned coffee(average price Yen100-Yen120 for around 200ml) but much cheaper than normal Starbucks coffee(starts from around Yen300).

It offers two kinds of taste, Expresso Doppio and Expresso Con Panna.
As per the press release, like ones at the coffee shops, high quality coffee beans "Expresso roast" are used for the production. I tried both taste and felt that they are stronger coffee than other brands canned coffee and that they succeeded in produce something brought the Starbucks's brand image appropriately. The size is small like an expresso cup and it does not take long to finish a can. It is good to have it just for a short time of refreshment.

When you do not have time to drop by a Starbucks shop and cannot wait for a cup of coffee prepaired or when you do not have enough coins...the canned Starbucks at convenience shop could be an alternative option.

Related Website(Japanese version only):
http://www.starbucks.co.jp/doubleshot/

 

Mame(豆）- Mamegen

Mame(豆）= beans.
Japanese not only cook beans as meals but also eat as salty snack or sweets for tea time.
Mamegen introduce you a lot of ways to have beans.

The traditional beans shop was established in 1865, Edo era. For over a century, its products have been attracting many people in central Tokyo.

Here are examples of beans products;
Salty snack - peanuts with shrimps flavor, broad beans with black pepper, peanuts cheese, soja with wasabi flavor, peanuts with sour plum
Sweet snack - peanuts or soja sugar frosted, almond with honey, peanuts with cocoa powder etc etc...

Photo 1: Cheese nuts(peanuts cheese)

Cheese is not Japanese traditional ingredient of course. But it is a good and modern combination.

Photo 2: Ume-lakka (peanuts with sour plum)

It looks like real "Umeboshi"(traditional sour plum pickles) but it is made of peanuts and coated with wheat sour plum flavor.

Photo 3: Hanamame (fried broad beans)

This is a traditional salty flavor and good match with beer.

Mamegen offers other Japanese traditional snacks and sweets.
All are packed in small size and sold at small price. Then they are good as a sourvenir or  small gift from Japan.

Shop name: Mamegen
Shop address: 1-8-12 Azabu-juban, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Website: http://www.mamegen.com

Torindo - Traditional Japanese sweets

During a stoll in Yanaka area, I found amazing sweets.
Torindo is a small sweets shop which is selling traditional Japanese sweets, using natural blessings. Obviously they are a kind of traditional Japanese sweets but are unique and witty, while kept as high quality products.

I got two of their specialities.

Kotaiyaki: Taiyaki(like me!) is very popular Japanese traditional casual sweets, fish-shape cake or sandwitch, filled with bean-paste. Torindo makes it smaller and converted it to more sphisticated product. "Ko" on top of Taiyaki means "small" in Japanese.

From left:
Japanese traditional sweets shops always wrap their products in elegant manner.
A piece of fresh green cedar leaf is the shop master's tender solicitude to remind us four seasons.
Like Taiyaki, Kotaiyaki is filled with bean-paste(anko).

        

                

Gochikoa: The name is original of the shop. As per the shop's introduction, the name inspired by five gods' wisdom. There are three box of Gochika, each different colors, yellow, red and green. Each box contains sugaring five kinds of dried fruits and vegetable. For example...

Above is Red box; orange, pear, lotus roots, fig and Japanese butterbur（fuki)

Other two boxes contain such as carrott, celery, eggplant, bamboo shoots...

I ever saw very similar one, dried and suguring fruits in Provence, south France. But pieces of vegetable processed in same way are the first experience here.
It is surely sweets and good match with a cup of green tea.

They are very good as souvenir of old Japanese, Yanaka.

The sweets shops has a small tea corner, where visitor can order green tea and their unique products on site.

Shop: Torindo
Address: 1-5-7 Ueno Sakuragi, Taito-ku, Tokyo
*Located in front of Tokyo University of the Arts
Website: http://www.torindo.co.jp

Karintou

Karintou is a traditional Japanese sweets.
The stick-like shape is made of flour and sugar glazed after fried.
The crisp texture and simple sweetness have attracted many people
from young children to elders for years.

It has some variety by ingredient dusted; brown suger, honey, sesami, peanuts...

A traditional Karintou house has more unique original flavour.
It made us surprised by introducing innovative version of Karintou,
transforming the traditional sweets to salty snack, which matchs with beer rather than with green tea.

For example, "Kimpira gobo"(left packet on picture), inspired by same name traditional spicy deli menu of burdock roots. The texture is surely Karintou but the flavour is really burdock with hot pepper. The other one is "Negi miso"(Japanese leek and miso paste).

                      

The traditional Karintou house opened a new branch inside of JR Tokyo station recently.
Known for the unique flavour of Karintou to many people, the small boutique becomes too much popular that its producing and selling capacity can not catch up with.
Long que is always there and the shop limits number of packets to be purchased per consumer so far.

Shop: Nihonbashi Nishikihorin
Website: http://www.nishikihorin.com/