Vegan burger launched at MOS BURGER

MOS BURGER is a Japanese hamburger chain with 37 directly managed stores and 1253 franchised stores in Japan (as of the end of January 2020). They have vegetarian options using a soy patty in their regular menu, and today they finally launched a vegan burger called MOS PLANT-BASED GREEN BURGER. If you search with this name, you can see how it looks. Unlike ordinary hamburgers, the buns are pale green as they contain spinach puree.

MOS PLANT-BASED GREEN BURGER doesn’t contain meat, egg, milk and five spicy foods (五葷). The patty is mainly made from soybean protein with konjac and cabbage added. The sauce is tomato-based sauce using carrot, burdock, and several kinds of herbs. In addition, vegetables such as tomato, greenleaf (a kind of lettuce?), and shredded lettuce are put between the buns and the patty.

The price is 538 yen + tax. It is more expensive than most hamburgers of MOS BURGER even though less expensive than double patty ones. To my mind this vegan burger is too expensive to attract attention from the general public but hopefully it will win popularity among vegetarians/vegans in Tokyo. At first, it is available only at the following 9 stores.

Tokyo: Mos Burger Osaki, Mos Burger Roppongi, Mos Burger Akihabara Suehirocho, Mos Cafe Omotesando, Mos Cafe Nishiginza, Mos Cafe Hankyu Oimachi, Mos Cafe Ginza Nine (from April 1), Mos Cafe Haneda Airport International Terminal Building (the name will be changed to Mos Cafe Haneda Airport Third Terminal on April 1).
Kanagawa: Mos Cafe Enoshima

The company says that they aim to launch it nationwide in May after analyzing the responses of customers and the sales status. I’ll be waiting for MOS PLANT-BASED GREEN BURGER to come to Hamamatsu. I appreciate their efforts. The Tokyo Olympic Games have been postponed to 2021. So other hamburger or restaurant chains may have enough time to follow the example of MOS BURGER and develop vegan/vegetarian menu items.

Botamochi - Rice cake for spring equinox week

Last Friday was the spring equinox day, which is a national holiday in Japan. It is the middle day of a Buddhist event week called higan (we have one also in autumn). During this period, we visit the family grave or other temple. Kamoeji Temple (often called Kamoe Kannon) near the downtown may be the most popular temple for this. It is an old temple founded during the Nara period (710-794). During the World War II, the main building built in the Edo period was burned down. It was rebuilt in 1947 and renovated in 1987. When I was a child, I went to an elementary school near this temple. In fact, I don’t like the main building after the renovation, but I visit there during the spring and autumn equinox weeks every year just because it has been my habit ever since I was very little. There are many stalls selling foods and toys on the premise, which is especially enjoyable for children.

Today I visited the temple early in the morning to avoid a crowd. Usually, I strike the bell and sprinkle water on the statue of Jizo (guardian deity of children) near the pond with a long bamboo ladle used by many people, but I skipped them this time. I just prayed in the main building that the coronavirus would calm down soon. In the afternoon, I took a bus from the bus terminal to another temple to visit the grave. Though the passengers in the bus seemed to be fewer than the previous time, the temple seemed to have visitors as usual because I saw fresh flowers in front of gravestones. On my way back to the downtown, there were only two passengers in the bus. Since I don’t have a car, I need to use public transportation. People like me may go out less frequently than usual because of the coronavirus, but those who have a car and can drive may still enjoy going out relatively freely.

After returning to the downtown, I dropped in a confectionary store Shunkado on Kajimachi Street to look for botamochi. It is a sweet for the spring higan but found all year round in some stores. Since this is the high season of botamochi, it is available in several places in the downtown including some temporary stalls. Basically, it is a rice cake wrapped with adzuki bean paste, but there are some variations. In Shunkado, they were selling three kinds of botamochi wrapped with smooth adzuki bean paste, roasted soybean flour, or chunky adzuki bean paste.

Since each botamochi was big, I chose only the one with roasted soybean flour.

I cut it with a little fork. Because of extraordinary much flour, the cross section isn’t clearly seen, but it was stuffed with chunky adzuki bean paste. The rice cake was made from glutinous rice, which was also chunky. I liked their rough texture very much. At first, I thought the flour was too much, but it was made from black soybeans and had an excellent roasted flavor. It went well with the moderate sweetness of adzuki bean paste.

In Shunkado, botamochi is sold only during the spring higan period that will end tomorrow. Botamochi is named after a spring flower “botan (牡丹)” or a peony. During the autumn higan, we eat a similar kind of sweet called ohagi that is named after “hagi (萩)” or a bush clover. They are sometimes confused, but many of us just enjoy eating them without thinking of the name.

Vegan bowl launched at FamilyMart in Tokyo

FamilyMart is the second largest convenience store chain in Japan with 16,611 stores all over the country (as of February 29, 2020). On March 17, they launched a vegan bowl called “Veggie Burg-don” in about 2,400 stores in Tokyo. According to their website, the patty is made by combining soy meat of difference sizes and shapes and is flavored with roast onion. The sauce is made from wheat flour roasted with plant oil and vegetables such as tomato, mushroom, onion, and carrot to add a rich taste. The package bears a vegan recommendation mark from the Japan Vegetarian Society. If you visit the society’s website (http://www.jpvs.org/), you can see the picture of Viggie Burg-don on the left side of the page.

The price is 498 yen (with the tax), which is the same as that of their beef bowl launched on the same day. In Japan, inexpensive beef bowls and other meat dishes are easily available in chain restaurants and stores, and I think this is one of the reasons why the vegetarian diet can’t attract attention from the general public. The price of Veggie Burg-don is reasonable compared with similar menu items of some vegetarian restaurants. I hope it will win popularity in Tokyo and will be sold also in provincial towns soon.

Healthy fermented foods (4) - Amazake nicknamed “drinkable IV shot”

Amazake literally means sweet sake, but it is a low or non-alcohol fermented rice drink. You can drink hot amazake at some sightseeing spots and events, and it tastes especially good in winter. However, cold amazake is available at any supermarkets all year round. It is often packed in a bag, but some products are packed in cartons. This one is available in Seijo Ishii in the basement of the station building.

Amazake has two types with different ingredients. This non-alcohol type is made from rice, rice malt, and salt. Though it doesn’t contain sugar, it is sweet. It is high in nutrition containing vitamins B1, B2, B6, folic acid, fiber, oligosaccharide, essential amino acids, glucose, etc. and is called drinkable IV shot. I heard people used to drink amazake to prevent summer heat fatigue during the Edo period. Nowadays amazake is often considered to be a drink in winter, and I seldom drink it in summer. But I found this amazake delicious whether it is cold or warm. Maybe I’ll continue to drink it even in summer.

The other type of amazake is made from sake lees, sugar, and salt. So, it contains a little alcohol. Though you can drink this type in some events at a reasonable price, you can make it easily by melting sake lees in hot water and adding some sugar and a little salt. This type of amazake warms you up in winter.

Amazake can be used also for cooking. The other day, I mixed it with miso with a ratio of 1:1 to make sauce. Miso is paste made from fermented soybeans, to which rice or barley is added sometimes. Different regions have different kinds of miso, and this time I used one from Niigata Prefecture famous for its rice cultivation. It contained soybeans, rice, salt, and alcohol. It smelled nice and was salty. Even after mixed with amazake, it didn’t become very sweet.

Then, I soaked a piece of tempeh or fermented soybeans into it.

After grilling, I ate it with German rye bread and sauerkraut. This open sandwich has four kinds of fermented foods: sauerkraut, tempeh, amazake, and miso.

I found this combination was not so good as I had expected because the bread, sauerkraut, and sauce had a distinctive taste respectively. It’s better to eat the tempeh separately. However, the sauce matched the grilled tempeh, and it may be suitable for many other foods with a mild taste.

Healthy fermented foods (3) - Sauerkraut from Germany

I like German ryebread very much and have once introduced it in this blog as an emergency food for a disaster as it keeps for a long time. It is sour and rich in nutrition. Recently, I often eat another German food that is also sour and nutritious. It is sauerkraut or sour cabbage. According to Wikipedia, it is fermented by various lactic acid bacteria and is a high source of vitamins C and K.

I found this bottle in Meidi-ya in the basement of Entetsu Department Store. The ingredients are only two: cabbage and salt. It must be a real traditional type.

At first, I was worried to find that the lid was too tight to open. I held the bottle upside down and soaked the lid in hot water in a pot for a while. It worked, and I finally managed to open it. The bottle was filled with cabbage up to the brim!

Sauerkraut is finely cut, pale, sour, and juicy. It’s totally different from green crispy raw cabbage I know. When I ate sauerkraut for the first time, I was surprised to learn that raw cabbage can become so soft. I eat it with German ryebread sometimes. As both of them are sour, maybe some other tastes should be added.

Sauerkraut can be used also in soup. This soup contains sauerkraut, tomato, dried daikon radish, broccoli, potato, onion, carrot, and a pinch of salt. It was just mixture of vegetables in the refrigerator. When I took this picture, I noticed the smell of sauerkraut. It increased my appetite.

As tomato is also sour, I wasn’t sure how much sourness came from sauerkraut. But the soup was tastier than tomato soup I made before without sauerkraut. Even if you think sauerkraut is too sour and is not very delicious, you can use it in soup or other dishes to add an extra flavor. But I prefer eating it raw. It has a kind of addictive taste, and it won’t take long before the bottle gets empty.

Healthy fermented foods (2) - Tempeh made in Japan

I think traditional cuisines in the world often include fermented fooods. In addition to natto, there is another kind of fermented soybeans available in Japan. It is tempeh (or tempe), which was originated from Indonesia. In Hamamatsu, you can eat fried tempeh in an Asian restaurant Garuda in the downtown. Last summer, I had this Tempe Goreng with sweet sauce.

Even in some supermarkets, there are some tempeh sold near tofu and other soy products. But I found them quite expensive compared with Japanese soy products. In addition, you have to keep them in a refrigerator, so, it is much more convenient to buy them via Amazon Japan. They sell a set of 10 packs that costs 2,460 yen, and the tempeh (100g) is in a retort pouch to be kept in a room temperature. The outer bag has some pictures to show how to eat it. It can be used in salad as it is, cooked with hijiki seaweed, and included in a pizza, for example.

This is one half of tempeh, which has a weight (50g) similar to that of one typical portion of natto (40 - 50g). Unlike natto, it is a cake of fermented soybeans and isn’t sticky at all.

I often saute it and eat with soy sauce and grated ginger as it may be one of the simplest ways to eat it.

The next one is also easy to make. You only need to chop tempeh, eggplant, and tomato and saute them together, add some salt, and sprinkle dried parsley. As tempeh has just a mild taste of beans, it is easy to use with other ingredients.

Personally, I like tempeh better than natto though it is more expensive. Even among Japanese people, there may be those who have difficulty getting used to the flavor of natto (like me) though they want to eat nutritious foods. For them, tempe may become the best alternative if it will be more advertised and the price will be less expensive. As with natto, tempeh features GABA, isoflavone, and fiber (according to the description on the bag) and can regulate the functions of the intestines.

Healthy fermented foods (1) - Trying to eat natto

The middle of March may be the worst season for those allergic to pollen. In Hamamatsu, there are many cider and Japanese cypress (hinoki) trees in the mountainous area, which were originally planted for a flood control project for Tenryu River east of the city during the Meiji period (1868-1912). Now they are used as high-quality timber, but there are also people allergic to them.

One of my cousins used to suffer from allergy in spring. Several years ago, he said his pollen allergy got better while he ate natto every day. Natto is fermented soybeans and may be considered one of the strangest foods in Japan. Since this is my cousin’s personal experience, I’m not sure if natto can help other people to improve their allergy. But at least, fermented foods are said to be good for our health. So, recently, I have been trying to eat them, especially natto, as often as possible. In Hamamatsu, we ate it neither at home nor at school when I was little. For me, it was like an exotic food that I tried to eat when I traveled to other regions in Japan and stayed at Japanese-style hotels. Even now I don’t really like it, but I have become more health conscious because of the coronavirus.

This is natto I usually buy in the basement of JR Hamamatsu Station. Natto is often sold with three packs at a reasonable price.

It is often accompanied with sauce and mustard. As with natto of other manufacturers, the sauce contains dried bonito broth. So, I use just mustard.

Natto looks like this when the wrap is removed.

Then, it is stirred with chopsticks to become stickier. I heard this stickiness is good for our body, but…

Usually, I also add soy sauce. It is bitter, and I have never thought it is delicious. But natto is highly nutritious, containing protein, vitamin B6, kalium, magnesium, iron, vitamin E, calcium, vitamin B2, and fiber. According to some websites, it can regulate the functions of the intestines and improve immune strength. It may be important to prevent diseases such as cold, influenza, and other infections.

Hina-dolls in Kasuisai Temple

The Doll Festival is coming soon. It is held on March 3 every year to pray for healthy growth of girls with a set of hina-dolls displayed at home. The most typical set consists of the imperial pair, three court ladies, five musicians, two guardians, three servants, furniture, etc. When a daughter born in a family, it is often the girl’s grandparents on mother’s side who present her with such dolls. But it depends on families.

In addition to families, many museums and sightseeing spots have exhibitions of hina-dolls at this time of year. Kasuisai Temple in Fukuroi (about 17-minute train ride from Hamamatsu) has one of the largest collections of hina-dolls in Japan. Their exhibition started from the beginning of January, and now they have some other interesting things to see. Last week, I visited there and had a very good time.

It takes about 40 minutes from JR Fukuroi Station to Kasuisai Temple on foot. This time I could take a bus immediately after arriving at the station, though there is only one bus an hour. It took about 10 minutes to get to the bus stop “Entrance of Kasuisai.” The first hina-dolls I saw were those sitting on the stone stairs to the temple. Though I had heard about it before, I was surprised at the sight.

Along the corridors of the temple, there were dolls of imperial pairs.

Some of them had gorgeous hair ornaments.

Some were enjoying tea.

This is a princess from a Japanese classic “The Tale of Genji.”

Court ladies were also elegant.

I liked this comical doll of a servant.

They looked cute with pink and white rice cakes in front of them.

The highlight of the exhibition is these 1,200 dolls on 32 steps. It was awesome. The room itself was splendid with the beautiful design of the ceiling.

On the opposite side of the room, ceremonial kimono in actual size were displayed. The women’s kimono has twelve layers. I imagined it was heavy to wear.

The men’s kimono is much simpler.

This is a set of traditional hanging lucky charms called “Kasafuku (literally means umbrella luck)” from Sakata in Yamagata Prefecture. There are as many as 999 pieces and made by 12 people.

Turtles for a long life, gourds for good health, balls, patchworks, etc. They were so colorful.

Even the garden of the temple had a festive atmosphere. They had dolls outside as well. There are five musicians.

A knight on a white horse like in European folktales?

I think this pair may be the most romantic of all. It looked like a scene from a love story.

You may wonder why a temple has so many hina-dolls or where the dolls came from. As I explained, girls were given hina-dolls when they were born. After they have grown up, the role of the dolls for protecting the girls is over. They are brought to a temple or shrine for a memorial service and burned there. Many people treat their hina-dolls carefully as if they had souls and don’t dare to discard them directly. The dolls in Kasuisai Temple may have been such dolls. Each of them had its individual characteristics and a presence.

Until March 15, Kasuisai Temple provides a special vegetarian set for the Doll Festival. It should be reserved by more than one person in advance. It costs 3000 yen and more expensive than other seasonal sets. I couldn’t eat it, but they will have Peony Festival in their peony garden from April to May, and I think they will have another seasonal set then. Even now, they have an indoor peony exhibition, but the flowers were less beautiful than before. So, I’ll show you a picture taken in January. Kasuisai Temple is a great culture spot with events and beautiful interior decoration of the temple itself.