The Japanese and corn

[SheenaGreena]

this thread makes me want to eat a big bowl of creamed corn. My mom used to make this delicious candy like concoction when I was little. I think it was canned corn, butter, sugar, and cornstarch or something...god it was good. I bet it would make a great topping on some ice cream

not japanese, but you guys should try corn pancakes. Take some fresh corn and throw it into pancake mix. Fry it up and serve it with maple syrup. This is a good way to use up left over corn from the summer (frozen)

[torakris]

Ever find yourself not wanting to waste two whole cans of both tuna and corn when putting together your sandwich or salad? Now you no longer have to!

The folks at Inaba Foods have put tuna and corn into the same can!

sorry it was the best picture I could find as I have no intention of actually purchasing this...

[Pouncy]

I think corn tortillas have a shorter shelf life than flour. The process is also a bit more complex than flour tortillas due to the cal treatment of the corn, so until a larger demand emerges it's not likely to be worth the effort for Japanese companies to produce. There aren't enough Mexican restaurants for companies to make money producing fresh masa or tortillas.

It's also certainly not worth the airfreight cost and distribution hassles to import from somewhere else, either. I don't think I've even seen a tortilla at the "Mexico" section of FoodEx, unless they were promoting avocados or something. I believe Youki or a similar firm distributes American brands of hard taco shells in Japan, because they can be kept for months, but I think they are sold for about 700 yen for 6.

I don't think it's a matter of taste, so much... heck, packaged corn tortillas are usually pretty miserable no matter where you are. But there is potential for the market to grow if Mexican food ever becomes trendy in Japan. Hiromi's parents were so fascinated by corn tortillas after we ate at a cheap Seattle Mexican restaurant that they bought a package of corn tortillas at a supermarket to take home and eat with yaki-niku and lettuce.

I've been to a few "Mexican" restaurants in Japan, and they make the average gloppy-yellow-cheese US bargain restaurants look gourmet. One served tabasco and canned tomatoes, sans garlic, lime or cilantro, as a "salsa", with tortilla chips made from flour tortillas. On the other hand, if you're willing to spend money, you can eat reasonably decent middle-class restaurant fare at a spot in Nishi-Azabu, which probably makes the corn tortillas themselves.

In a  different direction, it seems that the Japanese, as much as they love sweet corn, cannot get behind the corn tortillas common to mexican food.

I'm not sure why this is, though I've heard they find corn tortillas have a smell they don't like. Anyone have any experience with this. Flour tortillas are not hard to find but the corn tortillas are rare.

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Jason, there are a few pretty good places in Yokosuka for Mexican, thanks to the American base. Though I couldn't tell you their names. Also, I've seen corn tortillas here at the import section of the Saikaya depachika. Maybe there's hope?