Tag: ‘Food’

Nihonga meets fast food at Kyoto KFC

12 Jul 2006

Long ago, an event known as the Byobu Matsuri ("Folding Screen Festival") was held each year in conjunction with Kyoto's famed Gion Matsuri, during which the wealthier residents of Kyoto would open their homes to the public to show off their valuable art collections. Today, in what is being billed as a modern-day re-enactment of that custom, nine Kyoto-area establishments are displaying works of art as part of the Nihonga Byobu Matsuri Exhibit.

Col. Sanders/nihonga mashup

Among the participating hosts of the exhibit are two Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Kyoto's Chukyo district, which are displaying folding screens and hanging scrolls by painter Taro Yamamoto, known for incorporating Western fast food iconography into nihonga (Japanese-style painting).

KFC's Shijo-gawara restaurant is displaying two of Yamamoto's works, including a gilded folding screen depicting the face of Colonel Sanders and the Japanese flag floating above a classic pine tree (pictured above).

KFC & Coca-Cola/nihonga mashupsKFC's Shinkyogoku branch is displaying three of Yamamoto's works, including a gilded folding screen depicting Colonel Sanders holding an Ito Jakuchu-style chicken and a hanging scroll featuring a can of Coca-Cola.

The Nihonga Byobu Matsuri Exhibit is being held from July 7 to 17.

[Source: Asahi Shimbun]

Martian silkworms eyed as protein source

24 May 2006

BBQ-flavored silkwormsJapanese scientists researching the prospects of long-term human settlements on Mars are dreaming up ways to address the challenges of Martian agriculture. At a recent meeting of the Japan Geoscience Union held in Chiba, Professor Masamichi Yamashita (58) of the Japan Aeropsace Exploration Agency (JAXA) unveiled a unique space agriculture concept that would liven up the rather mundane task of cultivating rice in greenhouse domes. In his concept, settlers would plant mulberry trees and breed silkworms, the pupae of which would be consumed as a source of animal protein.

"Japan has the unique advantage of calling into play its excellent silk cultivation technology and long-established culinary culture," says Yamashita, who has been studying the subject since January 2005. As part of his research, Professor Yamashita has met with about 70 experts in fields ranging from medicine to agriculture to food science. "Space agriculture research is about the pursuit of near-complete recycling inside domes, something that can also be applied to safe organic agriculture on Earth," he says.

With trips to Mars taking 18 months each way, settlers will not be able to rely on frequent supply shipments from Earth. A self-sufficient supply of oxygen and food will be essential to the succes of any lengthy stay on Mars. The thin Martian atmosphere and a sunlight intensity half that on Earth pose additional agricultural challenges, and the unwillingness to taint the search for extraterrestrial life with microorganism-laden human and animal waste demands a rigorous recycling program.

Yamashita's concept involves the construction of transparent resin domes where rice, beans, potatoes, and mulberries are grown in soil consisting of a mixture of Martian sand and compost material. The plants would generate oxygen inside the domes, and the mulberry leaves would serve as food for the silkworms. The settlers could then either eat the silkworm pupae directly or use them as food for fish and poultry they raise.

"When cooked, silkworm pupae taste like shrimp or crab meat," says Professor Yamashita. "People all over Japan ate them during the food shortages after World War II, and you can still buy canned pupae in Nagano prefecture."

[Source: Nishinippon Shimbun]

Countdown begins for space yogurt project

29 Mar 2006

Space yogurtFinal preparations are being made for the launch of a project to develop space yogurt. The plan is a follow-up to the Tosa Space Sake (Tosa Uchu-shu) project, in which a number of Kochi prefecture sake brewers organized a 10-day space journey for a batch of yeast that was later used to produce sake (due to go on sale in Japan on April 1). Himawari Dairy, a Kochi-area dairy manufacturer, has reserved a seat aboard a Soyuz rocket for a payload of lactic acid bacteria that they hope to use to produce the world's first space yogurt after it returns to Earth. "We are deeply interested in seeing how the bacteria will change in space," says Himawari Dairy President Bunjiro Yoshizawa. "We hope it will undergo some interesting changes."

The space yogurt project is the result of cooperation between the key players in the space sake project -- a group of Kochi prefecture business leaders promoting the use of space travel to stimulate the local industry, along with the Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation (JAMSS), which handles the logistical affairs. After tasting some success with the promotion of the space sake project, the groups decided to turn their attention to developing space yogurt.

The ingredients to hitch a ride on the Soyuz include Himawari Dairy's unique lactic acid bacteria cultured from pickles preserved in sake lees (sediment that occurs during sake brewing) and lactic acid bacteria used in commercially available yogurt. Live bacteria cultures and dormant freeze-dried bacteria will be on board. The payload also includes a sample of chlorella (green algae) for research purposes, which was provided by the Kochi University School of Agriculture.

On March 22, the ingredients were loaded into special containers in Kochi City and shipped to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After spending about 10 days aboard the Soyuz, which is scheduled to launch March 31, the bacteria will be returned to Himawari Dairy, who will study the mutations and safety of the bacteria before beginning work on yogurt production. They hope to have the world?s first space yogurt on shelves sometime this autumn.

Cosmic radiation is expected to have an effect on the bacteria. "Lactic acid bacteria is delicate, so we are looking forward to seeing what happens," says Yoshizawa. "It will be nice if space travel improves the yogurt's flavor and boosts its immunity-enhancing properties."

[Sources: Kochi News, Mainichi Shimbun]

Exotic chocolate exhibit at Yokohama Curry Museum

23 Feb 2006

An unusual chocolate exhibit at the Yokohama Curry Museum may provide the perfect opportunity for gag gift shopping, whether it?s for your despicable boss or for yourself. The exhibit features a selection of around 70 varieties of novelty chocolate, alcoholic chocolate, fruit chocolate, and joke chocolate, all of which are available for purchase. The exhibition will be held until March 31 in the Masaraya museum shop on the 7th floor of the museum.

Some of the featured items include:

- Curry chocolate: Amazing, award-winning chocolate
- Wasabi chocolate: White chocolate with wasabi mustard
- Dried kelp chocolate: Chocolate with powdered gagome dried kelp from Hokkaido
- Hokkaido salt chocolate: White chocolate spiced with salt from the Sea of Okhotsk
- Korean red chili pepper chocolate: Chocolate with red chili pepper extract


(Curry chocolate, wasabi mustard chocolate and gagome dried kelp chocolate)


(Chocolate Factory Series: Car Mania Set, squid chocolate and Sapporo Beer chocolate)

The curry chocolate, a Yokohama Curry Museum original, has sold particularly well -- 25,000 packages in January. ?At first it seems like regular chocolate," says museum official Takehisa Inoue, "but its subtle spicy aftertaste gives it an exquisite flavor.? Created with the cooperation of confectionery manufacturer Meiji Seika, the curry chocolate is made with a blend of various spices.

In conjunction with the exhibit, the Petit Vert cafe on the 8th floor is serving fruitcake that looks just like a plate of curry (1,200 yen) until March 31. Created by Nobuyuki Yamamoto, former head pastry chef at Hotel New Grand (Yokohama), this dessert is a museum original with local roots. The "rice" is made from chocolate and sponge cake, and the "curry roux" consists of a mixture of turmeric and orange juice.

[Source: MYCOM PC WEB]

Marilyn Monroe-shaped daikon radish

06 Feb 2006

Marilyn Monroe-shaped daikon radishA daikon radish with a distinctly human shape is the talk of the town in Sasamicho, Wakayama prefecture.

Keiko Tanaka, 74, harvested the rather large daikon radish from her family farm. The daikon?s resemblance to a cross-legged woman surprised her as she unearthed it, prompting her to name it ?Monroe-chan." She has since been showing it off around town.

?It has such a beautiful body line. I?m sure it will taste better than your average daikon,? says Tanaka.

How much steamy pleasure this daikon adds to the process of cooking oden remains to be seen.

[Source: Mainichi Shimbun via Yahoo! News]