Mochi stuffed with a sweet white bean paste and seasonal fruit. Café @Kazu_Nakashima in the Higashi Chaya district of Kanazawa specializes in fruits mochi. The building housing the cafe dates to the Edo period (1603-1867) and is as charming as the sweets. The shop serves teas, other sweets, and mattcha latte. Chef Nakashima is a…
Category: trends
Metropolis magazine for restaurants, trends, and new openings.
I have returned to writing for Metropolis magazine. Here you’ll find restaurant reviews and monthly columns on new restaurants and food trends in Tokyo. Here is a link to my pieces: https://metropolisjapan.com/author/ysakamoto/ Thank you for following Food Sake Tokyo. We are still offering market tours in Tokyo.
Umami International Symposium 2016
The International Umami Symposium 2016, was held in Yokohama on Sunday, June 5th. The presenters consisted of chefs and scientists and revealed many new insights. Some highlights from my notes: Fire and fermentation are two ways to change umami in food. At two months a baby can understand umami flavor and has an innate preference…
Onigirazu – Rice Sandwiches
Onigiri or omusubi are savory stuffed rice balls that are often wrapped in nori. The shape is traditionally a triangle. Onigiri is something we eat at least once a week. These are perfect for picnics, hiking, as a quick meal or snack. But the onigiri is not perfect. The stuffings are concentrated in the center…
Haagen-Dazs Vegetable Ice Cream
For those of you who are not meeting your daily recommended servings of vegetables, you can now have your vegetable for dessert. The Haagen-Dazs SpoonVege comes in two flavors, Carrot and Orange or Tomato and Cherry. I tried it with two friends so we could all share our thoughts. The Carrot and Orange reminded us…
NY Croissant Donut at Mr. Donut
So Mr. Donut Japan has brought its version of the Cronut to Japan, the Mr. Croissant Donut. It’s not as good as the cinnamon-dusted New York Rings at the Roastery in Omotesando, but a huge improvement over the version made by Banderole. It is crispy and flakey and the whipped cream was pretty skimpy. It is…
Baked Kit Kats
Japanese food companies are brilliant at marketing their products. Kit Kat has teamed up with a famous pastry chef, Yasumasa Takagi, of Le Patissier Takagi. The latest product to hit the supermarket shelves is Kit Kat that is meant to be baked in the toaster oven. The television commercial shows chef Takagi baking the Kit Kats…
Gotta Get – Nori Cups at Tsukiji Market
Once in a while you come across something that changes your food life forever. A Japanese chef girlfriend who now lives in California told me about these nori cups at Tsukiji Market. They are sold at a store that I walk by every time we do a Food Sake Tokyo tour, which is about 3-4…
Food Trends in Japan – Supermarket Trade Show
Fermented foods are an essential part of Japanese cuisine. Many staples of the Japanese pantry are made with fermented products including sake, soy sauce, mirin, miso, and vinegar. Kōji, Aspergillus oryzae, is the common ingredients in all of the products. The popularity of kōji is evident with the shio (salt) kōji and shōyu (soy sauce)…
Japanese Beverage Trends – Low Alcohol Fruity Drinks
There has been an explosion of fruity, low-alcohol drinks on the market. Chuhai drinks or cocktails at about 3% alcohol. This is popular especially with young Japanese in their 20’s. The packaging is colorful and often includes pictures of fruit. The three big companies, Suntory, Asahi, and Kirin, are all active in this category. Back…
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