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Your favorite Japanese food products

torakris

By torakris
in Japan: Cooking & Baking

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torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted

Shopping for food in any country can be daunting, there are just so many choices!! add in the foreign foods and...... :biggrin:

I would like to make a thread listing our favorite non-snack items(we have threads for those ones!!).

Do you have any product you have found on the shelves of a Japanese store (in Japan or elsewhere) that you just can't live with out?

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I NEVER buy salad dressings,

except for this one

gallery_6134_91_1099002221.jpg

This is not your ordinary sesame dressing, besides the typical ingredients of sesame seeds, vinegar and soy sauce this one also includes onions, miso and yuzu. That subtle yuzu flavor makes all of the difference. I use this not only as a salad dressing but I thin is with some tsuyu (seasoned soy sauce) for a dipping sauce for noodles (especially somen). I use it straight as a dipping sauce for shabu shabu, the uses are endless.

this 500ml bottle costs 480 yen (about $4.50) and I have only found it at Tomizawa (http://www.tomizawa.co.jp/ )

The brand is Kanten Papa

http://www.kantenpp.co.jp/

and it is the creamy sesame (goma kuriimii ごまクリーミィー)

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

ankomochi

ankomochi

Posted
Posted

My favorite non-okashi items that I am crazy for:

1. QP mayonnaise

Do I have to explain? :cool:

2. UFO Yakisoba

I love UFO yakisoba since I was small. I try other instant yakisoba noodles, but I always come back to UFO.

3. Mishima no Yukari gohan furikake

I love this cheap product. I sprinkle over rice, pasta, and somen.

Check out the latest meal!

Itadakimasu

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
2.  UFO Yakisoba

I love UFO yakisoba since I was small.  I try other instant yakisoba noodles, but I always come back to UFO. 

3.  Mishima no Yukari gohan furikake

I love this cheap product.  I sprinkle over rice, pasta, and somen.

2. Another confirmation that you come from West Japan!

Peyoung Yakisoba are much more popular here in East Japan. I did a google search and found that Peyoung Yakisoba is sold in East Japan only and was released in 1975 (earlier than UFO). I used to love Peyoung when I was young. I don't crave for it any longer, though.

3. I like it, too, but I don't call it 'cheap'! :angry:

My blog
torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

3.  I like it, too, but I don't call it 'cheap'! :angry:

I also thought yukari was the cheapest furikake around.... :blink:

gallery_6134_91_1099006375.jpg

I think I paid about 78 yen for this (about $.65)

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

You too? :sad::biggrin:

I'd say it's inexpensive and nutritious. OK, you can call it cheap but don't call it cheap and nasty.

My blog
torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
You too? :sad:  :biggrin:

I'd say it's inexpensive and nutritious.  OK, you can call it cheap but don't call it cheap and nasty.

now I understand!! :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Sobaicecream

Sobaicecream

Posted
Posted
Do you have any product you have found on the shelves of a Japanese store (in Japan or elsewhere) that you just can't live with out?

Good thread!

Here are a few of my indispensables:

1) Tsuyu -- if something is lacking umami, I've always got my trusty bottle of tsuyu (a little splash works nicely in things like stir-fried veggies)

2) Wakame, both dried and...the not dried kind (covered in salt) -- this stuff is incredible. If I haven't gone out to get my fresh vegetables for the day, I can always fall back on wakame to add color and nutrients to a bowl of ramen or soup, for example. And it's kind of fun to watch the dried/salted wakame magically blossom into these billowing green sheafs.

3) Those plastic cylindrical cases of very thinly sliced dried nori -- I *love* a big cloud of shredded nori on top of anything: rice, noodles, salad. But I once tried scissoring up my own and almost went crazy. This is so much better (and suprisingly not that expensive).

4) Frozen pumpkin chunks -- pumpkin is one vegetable that I only began eating in savory foods after coming to Japan, and I really like it. But whenever I buy the fresh kind, it takes me an entire week to finish off one little gourd, and by the end I'm completely pumpkined out. Frozen pumpkin pieces defrost and soften in only three minutes in the microwave, and I don't think they taste too bad.

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
But I once tried scissoring up my own and almost went crazy. This is so much better (and suprisingly not that expensive).

That's what I do too. Folding and cutting a sheet of nori into strips.

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melonpan

melonpan

Posted
Posted
except for this one

gallery_6134_91_1099002221.jpg

i think i saw a bottle of this! is it possible that they sell this thing in giant one liter bottles? i could have sworn i saw it in that size. it was for about usd$10 and i wondered how anyone could get through that large of a bottle...

next time i go to this particular market i will keep my eye out for it and hopefully i can find a smaller 500 ml bottle...

"Bibimbap shappdy wappdy wap." - Jinmyo
torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
i think i saw a bottle of this!  is it possible that they sell this thing in giant one liter bottles?  i could have sworn i saw it in that size.  it was for about usd$10 and i wondered how anyone could get through that large of a bottle...

next time i go to this particular market i will keep my eye out for it and hopefully i can find a smaller 500 ml bottle...

It could be it, if you can find it snatch it up, even the liter size, as it has many more uses than just salad dressing!!

I have made a lunch out of a bowl of cucumbers and this dressing, it is also great on cold tofu or seaweed salads.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

torakris, my question is:

Do you think you can reproduce this product at home? (I wanted to ask you the same question when I read about the natto you had at Imaiya several months ago.)

My blog
torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
torakris, my question is:

Do you think you can reproduce this product at home?  (I wanted to ask you the same question when I read about the natto you had at Imaiya several months ago.)

I guess you could get close if you tried, but the bottled one has all the preservatives and will last for a long time!! :raz:

as for the natto...

hhhmmm..... I guess that is possible too, but I don't like to deal with making fermented foods myself because you can never predict the outcome, a salad dressing you can keep changing as you go along..

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

My children were hooked on 'fuwatoro natto' for some time, but I didn't want to buy it because it was more expensive than regular brands. So, I hit on a good idea: I put some salted konbu (kelp) in a dish, added some hot water and then a pack of regular natto, mixed them well, and added the sauce that came with the natto. My children liked it. Don't ask me what it tastes like; I don't like fuwatoro natto and I've never tried my recipe myself.

I found a natto blog that discusses furwatoro natto:

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/gawa_chi/e/74dbec4c0...3b6f97c5856be7b

This blogger says that men tsuyu (noodle soup) diluted very weak can be used:

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/gawa_chi/e/0f264bb62...af0217d1780690d

My blog
Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

Takana zuke no abura itame (Takana pickles fried in oil).

Takana pickles are nothing new, but the takana pickles fried in oil I can get at one particular supermarket here in my town are really yummy. I almost always buy a pack when I go there.

My blog
torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Takana zuke no abura itame (Takana pickles fried in oil).

Takana pickles are nothing new, but the takana pickles fried in oil I can get at one particular supermarket here in my town are really yummy.  I almost always buy a pack when I go there.

I have never seen this before...

post a picture next time you get them! :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

  • 2 weeks later...
Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
Takana zuke no abura itame (Takana pickles fried in oil).

Takana pickles are nothing new, but the takana pickles fried in oil I can get at one particular supermarket here in my town are really yummy.  I almost always buy a pack when I go there.

I have never seen this before...

post a picture next time you get them! :biggrin:

Omatase shimasita (Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long)! I have to say that I made a mistake. The label says takana abura itame, not takana zuke no abura itame. Sorry for that. :sad: But I really like the taste of this particular item at this supermarket.

gallery_16375_5_1100665772.jpg

My blog
  • 2 weeks later...
torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

gallery_6134_91_1099002221.jpg

This is not your ordinary sesame dressing, besides the typical ingredients of sesame seeds, vinegar and soy sauce this one also includes onions, miso and yuzu. That subtle yuzu flavor makes all of the difference. I use this not only as a salad dressing but I thin is with some tsuyu (seasoned soy sauce) for a dipping sauce for noodles (especially somen). I use it straight as a dipping sauce for shabu shabu, the uses are endless.

this 500ml  bottle costs 480 yen (about $4.50) and I have only found it at Tomizawa (http://www.tomizawa.co.jp/ )

The brand is Kanten Papa

http://www.kantenpp.co.jp/

and it is the creamy sesame (goma kuriimii ごまクリーミィー)

I used this dressing last night to dress a shabu shabu style salad

gallery_6134_91_1101768423.jpg

wonderful! :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

giantbee

giantbee

Posted
Posted

One of my favorite Japanese food products is called kinshoubai （錦松梅）--I guess you would call it a furikake since it is sprinkled over rice. It is slightly moist and comes in a sealed plastic bag. It contains katsuobushi, pine nuts, and mushrooms among other things. I first received it as an omiyage and have bought it at department stores in Japan. However, it doesn't seem to be available online or anywhere in the US. So I have to ask friends visiting Japan to bring it back for me. One friend from Tokyo had never heard of it. Is it well-known or popular in Japan?

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
One of my favorite Japanese food products is called kinshoubai （錦松梅）--I guess you would call it a furikake since it is sprinkled over rice.  It is slightly moist and comes in a sealed plastic bag.  It contains katsuobushi, pine nuts, and mushrooms among other things.  I first received it as an omiyage and have bought it at department stores in Japan.  However, it doesn't seem to be available online or anywhere in the US.  So I have to ask friends visiting Japan to bring it back for me.  One friend from Tokyo had never heard of it.  Is it well-known or popular in Japan?

It is well known, but I'm not a fan of it. I am a fan of the furikake of my own making. Why not make your own version of kinshoubai?

I guess the following links will provide some hints:

http://www.coop-mie.jp/cookmail/recipe/2004/070c.html

http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/kt22mt21/3056

(Both are in Japanese only.)

My blog
giantbee

giantbee

Posted
Posted
It is well known, but I'm not a fan of it.  I am a fan of the furikake of my own making.  Why not make your own version of kinshoubai?

I guess the following links will provide some hints:

http://www.coop-mie.jp/cookmail/recipe/2004/070c.html

http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/kt22mt21/3056

(Both are in Japanese only.)

You're right, I should try making it myself sometime. I did hunt down some kinshoubai recipes earlier but didn't try them because the European and Chinese pine nuts available here don't have the wonderful fragrance of the pine nuts in the kinshoubai (they don't even look like the same variety). And the pine-y taste and fragrance are what I like best about kinshoubai. If I can find a nice J pine nut source here, I'll give a home recipe a try. Does anyone know which type of pine is used for pine nuts in Japan?

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted
the European and Chinese pine nuts available here don't have the wonderful fragrance of the pine nuts in the kinshoubai (they don't even look like the same variety).

I think that most of the pine nuts available in Japan are imports from China, as I confirmed from several sites like these (all in Japanese only):

http://www.oishi-mise.com/matunomi.htm

https://s112.secure.ne.jp/~s112059/shop/ind...?goods=matunomi

http://www.yamyamhompo.com/kinomi-p/matsu.htm

All the pine nuts shown in the links are imports from China.

What do you think?

My blog
torakris

torakris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I don't think I have ever seen "Japanese" pine nuts....

all the ones I have bought are from China.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

bleachboy

bleachboy

Posted
Posted

I am a mayo freak.

Frankly, I think Kewpie mayonnaise sucks.

What doesn't suck?

WASABI MAYONNAISE

Possibly the greatest condiment ever to grace a roast beef sandwich!

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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