Vegan cup noodle from Korea

Several months ago, I read about vegan noodle “Shin Ramen (Shin Ramyeon/Shin Ramyun)” made by a food company Nongshim in Korea on the Internet but couldn’t find it until recently. At last, I found it the big supermarket MaxValu where I bought vegan custard pudding the other day. Shin Ramen is written as “辛ラーメン“ in Japanese, whose Chinese character “辛” means hot (taste). Its red cup seemed to imply how hot it was.

On the noodles, there were pieces of dried carrot, leek, shiitake mushroom, red pepper.

The soup powder also contained red pepper. I have never seen a color like this before with any other cup noodle soup powder. In addition to red pepper, the it contained vegetable extract, powdered miso, shiitake power, salt, etc.

I poured hot water up to the line in the cup and waited for three minutes. Then, it was ready.

The ramen was hotter than I expected! It was so hot that my tongue and the inside of my mouth were tingling as I ate it. The soup looked like this.

I even sweated and thought it was not recommendable for those who don’t like hot or spicy foods. But it can be loved by non-vegans as well if they are fond of pungently flavored food. Personally, I liked it very much and hope to find the instant ramen version of Shin Ramen that is available somewhere.

*I learned later that also non-vegan versions are sold in abroad. Here in Japan, only the vegan version is available.

Bamboo shoot rice in spring

Recently, I go for a walk at Hamamatsu Castle Park early in the morning to offset sitting at a desk all day. It has a large Japanese garden with a bamboo area like this.

Among bamboo trees, you can see a dark brown bamboo shoot, which is called “takenoko” or a child of bamboo in Japanese.

Yesterday, I got a piece of boiled bamboo shoot and a pack of deep-fried tofu from my mother and was recommended to use them together for cooking. Bamboo shoots are popular food in spring and my mother likes them very much. Though boiled ones are available all year round in supermarkets, you can also find fresh bamboo shoots at this time of year. Such bamboo shoots should be boiled for a long time with some rice bran to remove the bitter taste. As my mother already did it at home, I could use it directly for cooking. It had a subtle nice smell.

Among traditional bamboo shoot dishes, bamboo shoot rice (takenoko-gohan) may be one of the simplest. You can find many recipes on the Internet, and their common ingredients are rice, boiled bamboo shoot, deep-fried tofu, and broth. Though Japanese vegan broth is usually made from kelp or shiitake mushroom, I used dried strips of daikon radish instead to make this dish, expecting it would add a slight sweet flavor. I thought the deep-fried tofu would also add some good taste while boiled.

So, the ingredients were 180 cc of brown rice, one-third of bamboo shoot in the picture above, some dried strips of daikon radish, one half of deep-fried tofu, 15 cc of soy sauce, salt, and water. In this picure, the rice and bamboo shoot aren’t visible as they have sunk to the bottom of the earthen pot.

When I cook rice, I always eyeball it. I didn’t know exactly how much water was in the pot, but it turned out to be sufficient. Bamboo shoot rice was ready after boiled on low heat for about 30 minutes after steam started coming out of the hole.

I can’t explain the flavor of the bamboo shoot itself very well. It tasted rather light after the bitterness was removed while boiled for the first time by my mother. I think people enjoy its texture rather than its taste. However, bamboo shoot rice was delicious with blend of simple but tasty ingredients.

Stay Home Week started in Tokyo

From the end of April to the beginning of May, we have a period called “Golden Week” which includes some national holidays. Usually this is a time when many people working or studying in big cities like Tokyo go back to their hometown or go on a trip somewhere else. But things are different this year because of COVID-19. Last Thursday, the governor of Tokyo said that the 12-day period from April 25 to May 6 should be “Stay Home Week to Save Lives” and asked for cooperation from companies and inhabitants. The website of Tokyo Metropolitan Government presents some requests including reduction of number of times to go shopping (preferably once every three days), refraining from going on trips, teleworking, etc.

Even in Hamamatsu, the atmosphere has been changing. The city requested restaurants, bars, amusement facilities, etc. to close from April 25 to May 6, promising subsidies. When I went to downtown this morning, I found many restaurants with a notice of closure put outside. In addition, I saw a banner with a slogan to fight against the coronavirus.

When I was in front of Hamamatsu Station a little over 10:00, I saw almost no one there. I learned later that the passenger load factor of each Shinkansen line was 0 - 10% today. Incredible!

The shopping mall MayOne in the station building is closed from April 18 to May 6. Only the food market including Seijo Ishii and the drug store Kyorindo in the basement are open (10:00 - 20:00, 8:00 - 20:00 respectively). I went to the food market and then to the basement of Entetsu Department Store that is also closed until May 6 except for the basement. At the entrance, there was a request for wearing a mask. Unlike some other countries, it is not obligatory in Japan, so I was relieved to see it because I didn’t want to walk among people who didn’t wear a mask.

In the department store, I just wanted to buy this miso from Niigata Prefecture, a major production area of rice. According to the label, it is made from locally grown soybeans and rice.

During this corona-period, I have heard heartwarming news of Tsubame City in Niigata Prefecture. They are sending 5 kg of rice from local farmers and a handmade cloth mask to every student from Tsubame City who studies outside Niigata Prefecture and will not come back to the city during this holiday season to prevent infection spread of the coronavirus. Such support will be great encouragement for young students who long for home in this unstable situation.

Best-selling custard pudding in vegan version

Custard pudding (called "purin" in Japanese) is one of the most popular western-style sweets in Japan, especially among children. Though it is a simple dessert basically made from eggs, milk, and sugar, any western-style confectionery store has one, and convenience stores and supermarkets provide several options made by different companies. The most well-known product may be Pucchin Purin (プッチンプリン) made by a food company Glico. It is a long-selling product released in 1972. In 2013, it was recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling pudding in the world.

I can’t remember when I last ate the original Pucchin Purin. Though vegan cookies and cakes are available in some stores, I could hardly imagine the existence of vegan custard pudding. Last month, however, Glico released Pucchin Purin in vegan version that looked like the original pudding. I happened to see it on a website and got curious. I couldn’t find it in convenience stores and small supermarkets but finally got one in a supermarket chain MaxValu.

When removing the cover, I noticed that the pudding smelled like ordinary custard pudding. The smooth pale yellow surface also reminded me of the original version.

The bottom looked like this. As with the oridinal Pucchin Purin, there was a little protrusion on the surface.

When I pushed the protrusion and made a hole, the pudding sank down. Then I realized why Pucchin Purin has been loved by many children.

The vegan Pucchin Purin really looked like ordinary custard pudding.

The ingredients were soy milk, sugar, glucose syrup, vegetable fats and oils, roasted sugar, almond paste, salt, agar/starch adhesive, flavoring, emulsifier, pH control agent, carotene coloring, and caramel coloring. According to the description on the cover, the sugar is cane sugar. Not only the appearance but also the texture was also very much like the original version. It was as jiggly and smooth as the original version, but the taste was lighter. So, I thought it may be good for diet.
Though the soy milk was used as a major ingredient, I couldn’t specifically recognize the taste of soybeans. I was just impressed by the jiggly texture common to both the original and vegan Pucchin Purin and enjoyed it. Glico did a good job!

This Pucchin Purin may be a great option for vegans and people who are allergic to dairy products and eggs as it is available in an ordinary supermarket chain. MaxValu is a big supermarket with a relatively large selection of products. I hope it will be soon sold in other supermarkets as well.

Vegan biscuits available in convenience stores

As I have mentioned before, it is relatively easy to find vegan sweets in Japanese-style confectionery stores. They are also available in supermarkets and convenience stores. As for western-style sweets, you can find vegan options sometimes under the name of macrobiotic cookies or something. Macrobiotics or the macrobiotic diet is a diet concept developed by Japanese George Ohsawa and emphasizes the balance between yin and yang elements of foods. It recommends locally produced whole foods such as brown rice, vegetables, beans, etc.

Macrobiotic sweets are basically vegan sweets that do not contain any animal products and white sugar. In Hamamatsu, I have seen them in some natural food stores, Seijo Ishii in the station building, Bio Atsumi, etc. They are quite expensive compared with other sweets and are not easily available in ordinary food stores. I think the most readily available product is Makurobi-ha (マクロビ派) made by a popular sweet brand Morinaga. I have seen it both in Seven-Eleven and Lawson.

The pack was small and contained 8 bite-sized biscuits.

In fact, I was a little disappointed to see how small they were. But they were rich in ingredients: almonds, cranberries soaked in apple juice, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, brown rice flakes, oat flakes, beet sugar, domestic wheat flour, domestic whole wheat flour, rapeseed oil, and salt from Seto Inland Sea. I ate them slowly and enjoyed the rough textures of oat flakes, seeds, and nuts and the flavor of cranberries. Beet sugar added mild sweetness.

This Makurobi-ha was put on the shelf of energy bars in Seven-Eleven. I think it can attract attention even from non-vegans with its pretty package and mark of Morinaga. A healthy and approachable image is important for vegan foods including sweets.

Dumplings over flowers

“Dumplings over flowers” is a Japanese saying that means “to prefer substance over aesthetic.” For the season of cherry blossoms, we have a traditional sweet called hanami-dango or cherry-blossom viewing dumplings. It consists of pink, white, and green dumplings on a skewer. There are different theories about the meaning of the colors. According to a dominant theory, they represent flowers in spring, snow in winter, and new leaves in summer.

In fact, this tricolor sweet is available all year round in some supermarkets. But convenience stores have one only during a limited period in spring. Their products are a little different from the traditional hanami-dango as the dumplings are not skewered. This one is from Seven-Eleven, for example.

With traditional hanami-dango, three dumplings are always skewered in this order; the pink one on the top, white one in the middle, and the green one at the bottom. It is also said that they respectively represent a pink bud, white blossom in bloom, and green leaf bud after the blossom has fallen.

The dumplings are mainly made from high quality powder of non-glutinous rice. Unlike traditional hanami-dango, they are stuffed with bean paste. The white and green dumplings have ordinary adzuki paste in them. But the pink one has pink paste (only a little paler than the dumpling itself) which may consist of white bean paste, extract of cherry blossoms, and food color described on the ingredient label.

I ate the white dumpling first. As I had expected, it had an ordinary taste but was soft and sticky. The pink one had a unique taste of cherry blossoms (?), which I found very delicious. The green one contained mugwort and had a flavor of grass. As a whole, this set of dumplings were very good, especially the pink one.

During cherry-blossom viewing, many Japanese people have parties under the trees, eating and drinking (not this year because of COVID-19). It may be fun and some of them actually prefer food or sake over cherry blossoms. The saying “Dumplings over flowers” is “Hana yori dango (花より団子)” in Japanese. The title of old Japanese comic books “Hana Yori Dango (花より男子)” is a pun on this saying. This series has been dramatized in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea and called “Boys over Flowers” in English.

Cherry blossoms in bloom

Now is the season of cherry-blossom viewing. Yesterday I went to Hamamatsu Castle Park. It was early in the morning and there were only a few people jogging or walking. Cherry blossoms were in bloom like these over the pond.

Green leaves, pale pink blossoms, blue sky…

These blossoms were also beautiful though I don’t know their name.

In the center of the city, Hamamatsu Castle Park may be the best spot for cherry-blossom viewing. But Central City Library has also a nice cherry tree in front of it.

Under the tree, there is a monument of Kuraji Ishikawa (1859 - 1944) who was born in Hamamatsu and founded the Japanese braille system.

The website of Hamamatsu City Library provides links to information about the coronavirus available in several languages (https://www.lib-city-hamamatsu.jp/osirase/osirase_link_covid-19_multi.html). The information is well described, including how to wear a mask correctly.

Two cloth masks to every household in Japan

It has been a common practice in East Asia to wear a face mask when you are sick or to prevent pollen or harmful substances from entering your body. Now, it’s a must for many Japanese people as the corona pandemic is going on. But it is still difficult to find ordinary disposable masks at drugstores and convenience stores here because they are sold out immediately.

On April 1, our prime minister Shinzo Abe announced that the government would provide two cloth masks to every household by post. Some people thought it was a joke for April Fool’s day, and others got angry as they expected some other things such as cash. Personally, I thought it was still better than nothing though I had already bought one at a handicraft shop on Yurinoki Street in the downtown. It is next to the convenience store LAWSON near the elevated railway of Enshu Railway. The mask I chose was a simple gauze mask. The masks from the government will be of the similar type. According to the prime minister, they will start to send them from the week after next and from prefectures with many infected people.

The handicraft shop had also bigger and colorful masks. In front of the shop, there is a board saying that they are selling gauze to make a mask, which was the reason why I entered inside. I was glad to find that they also sell homemade masks because I wasn’t sure if I could make one successfully.

I know that many American and European people are doubtful about the effect of masks worn by ordinary people, not healthcare workers. But even if such masks may not be able to prevent the wearers from getting infected, they can reduce the risk to infect other people. If you have to cough or sneeze into your elbow or sleeve when you are talking with someone, isn’t it safer and more practical to wear a mask all the time?

I have had great concern recently. I have once lived in Finland and Sweden and have met unforgettable people in both countries. My first friend in Northern Europe was a Finnish pen pal, and I have an elderly friend in Sweden. Though both are thinly populated countries, they are in serious situation with many infected people. I have been following news about COVID-19 from SVT (Sweden), and it makes me feel uneasy to see that no one (even healthcare worker) wears a mask in interviews or press conference.

According to yesterday’s NHK news, in some European countries such as Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, people are now obliged to wear a mask when going out. In Austria, wearing a mask became obligatory to enter a supermarket for shopping on April 1. Also in Jena, Germany, it will be obligatory in supermarkets and public transportation from April 6.

I wish this practice will be spread further to Northern Europe, up to Lapland (though it doesn’t need to be obligatory). I heard about a Japanese woman who made a mask from the textile of Marimekko. I believe Finnish and Swedish people will make stylish and practical masks when they need.

CRISP SALAD WORKS offers free salad to hospital workers

The fight against the coronavirus is proceeding globally. I heard about some restaurants abroad that offer free meals or discount to healthcare workers. I thought it a good idea and was very impressed by their solidarity. Recently, I happened to know that a restaurant chain in Tokyo, CRISP SALAD WORKS, also offers a similar kind of service. From March 25, free salad has been provided to all the healthcare and hospital workers (doctors, nurses, clerks, cleaning staff, etc.) at all the 14 stores in Tokyo. Each of them can have one free menu item per day. At first, they needed to select salad they wanted and a store to pick it up through the dedicated app, come to the store and show their ID card to the restaurant staff. According to CRISP SALAD WORKS’ website, this take-out service was changed to direct delivery to hospitals on March 30 as many healthcare workers were too busy to come.

As the name implies, CRISP SALAD WORKS specializes in salad. Their website (https://www.crisp.co.jp/) is in both Japanese and English, and you can see a big bowl of delicious-looking salad. Among their signature salads, there is one vegan option that contains romaine lettuce, roasted tofu, black beans, grilled corn, red cabbage, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and lemon tahini. It sounds very nutritious. Alternatively, you can have custom salad by combining one of three vegan bases and up to four toppings. There are ten kinds of dressing, and five of them are vegan. If I have a chance to go to Tokyo after the corona pandemic calms down, I’d like to visit one of their stores. Now they provide only takeout and delivery service to prevent infection of the coronavirus. You cannot eat inside the stores.