Japan’s diet is reputed to be one of the healthiest in the world. Rich in lean proteins such as tofu, omega enriched oily fish, fiber packed rice and noodles, as well as super foods such as seaweed and miso, traditional Japanese dishes are touted as panacea for a host of modern lifestyle diseases. The Japanese people themselves have a reputation for restraint, ascribing to the mantra, “Eat only until 80% full,” and eschewing takeaways.
So you might be surprised to learn that Japan can also boast some of the most outrageous and inventive junk food in the world. Fueled by an enduring national obsession for novelty, food manufacturers rack their brains to come up with the latest dining trends, the likes of which would only usually be considered by stoned college students and hormone addled pregnant women.
Of course, many of these dishes are purely intended to generate publicity for the establishments, in the same vein as a London restaurant’s recent baby milk ice cream concoction- very few customers are actually willing to try the foods in question, though they may turn up just to gawp. The remainder however are fair game, and when you’ve got an innovation, food obsessed nation to simultaneously feed and entertain, anything goes.
Fueled by an enduring national obsession for novelty, food manufacturers rack their brains to come up with the latest dining trends, the likes of which would only usually be considered by stoned college students and hormone addled pregnant women
Case in point: pineapple ramen. Tokyo is a city rammed with noodle soup joints, which distinguish themselves by location, secret recipes, and special regional variations. Quirky Papapapapine took it one step further, reasoning that pineapple juice and ramen are both pretty popular, so why not mix them together? Such was the success of this sweet-savoury dish, the store launched a strawberry variant on to their menu, aptly named Susususustrawberry. Other local chefs have experimented with ice cream ramen, coffee, and even taco blends. Lotteria, a Japanese burger chain, took the street food element of ramen one step further, inventing a ramen burger that could be easily eaten on the go.
Speaking of burgers, in honour of the party season, Burger King launched an amazing pizza sized menu offering in Japan, designed to be shared with one’s nearest and dearest colleagues. Pumpkin slices, black squid ink buns, and squid have also cropped up on chain menus in recent years
There’s also a trend in Tokyo’s Harajuku for ice cream and syrup topped crisps- the perfect compliment to the extravagantly filled crepes favoured by local youths. A current in vogue filling is vanilla pudding, cheesecake, banana, ice cream, cream, sauce, and nuts, all rolled up in a handy to eat cone. And to wash all that sugar out of your mouth, might we recommend some coffee gum?
