Western Foods not liked by Japanese

Maciamo · 12 Feb 2005

More simply, many Japanese can't eat any other meat than pork, beef, chicken, duck, fish and seafood (some of course can't eat some fish or seafood). For example, many Japanese dislike lamb and have the strange idea that lamb is regularily eaten in any other country. But more interestingly, many Japanese do not (want to) eat turkey, rabbit, venison, ostrich, kangaroo, camel, crocodile, frogs, snails, or just anything they don't know. I have tried all of these (several times each) and like all of them.

Apollo · 13 Feb 2005

misa.j said:
I looove rye bread! I use pumpernickel for my sandwiches all the time. Umm, it's very good with smoked turkey.

WOW!! Misa, you are the first Japanese I know of who likes rye bread!!! COOL!! *thumbs up*

misa.j · 13 Feb 2005

Thanks Miss_apollo7.
I don't think they have rye bread in Japan, in fact, I hadn't have it till I came to the US. It is very flavorful.

Brooker · 13 Feb 2005

There's very little dairy in Japan, which was good for me because I'm lactose intolerant. They don't drink milk, they don't put cheese on anything that isn't a "foreign food". My stomach was in much better shape when I was in Japan because it's so hard to avoid dairy in the states. I like cheese, it just gives me, um, ah, "problems". :eek2:

epigene · 13 Feb 2005

I like pumpernickel, too!

Because of me, my kids love rye bread and taught their Japanese friends studying together in the US to like them. I think the Japanese will like the bread, once it is introduced on a wider scale.

BTW, we can get pumpernickel/rye in supermarkets catering to foreign residents. There is bread claimed to be "rye" in ordinary supermarkets but is no way like the real thing. Rye flour is being mixed with white bread flour. ☝

There are gourmet bread lovers among the Japanese today, and we're seeing more types of bread than there were five or ten years ago.

epigene · 13 Feb 2005

Brooker said:
There's very little dairy in Japan, which was good for me because I'm lactose intolerant. They don't drink milk, they don't put cheese on anything that isn't a "foreign food". My stomach was in much better shape when I was in Japan because it's so hard to avoid dairy in the states. I like cheese, it just gives me, um, ah, "problems". :eek2:

You are the first American I now know who is lactose-intolerant!

Actually, there are many Japanese who are lactose-intolerant, especially among the middle-aged and elderly (including my husband). Probably that's the reason use of dairy products does not develop so rapidly as love for MacDonalds did!

Sensuikan San · 13 Feb 2005

That's very interesting, Epigine.

I seem to recollect that a very large number of Chinese are also lactose intolerant; also I believe, is a large proportion of the North American indian population ( a curious link to the fact that N.American native peoples originated in Eastern Asia...)

Are there any American or Canadian Native People's out there who can confirm this ?

Curiously, and coincidentally, my own wife is slightly lactose intolerant - but of course, she's Welsh (... A primitive race which once walked into England ... )

OUCH !

...Sorry, sweetheart !

rakuten · 13 Feb 2005

kirei_na_me said:
I hate root beer too...AND Vanilla Coke. That stuff is awful! Tastes like medicine or something.
The Japanese I know don't like a lot of cheese. Especially strong smelling cheese(which I find hard to understand, since they all love nattou).

Yuck Vanilla Coke! And not everyone loves nattou, some love it, some hate it.
One might be surprised to hear that Japan won the Gold medal at the 3rd Mountain Cheese Olympics in Appenzell, Switzerland (Oct 2004). But not in the "smelly category", the winner "Sakura" is a flavoured soft cheese.

Articles:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200410/s1231457.htm
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=qw1099225264793S326

Read more about the event here:
http://www.caseusmontanus.ch/en/5.asp (winners and gallery)
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=411&sid=5309703

If you're really into cheese, see here:
http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/shoppe.asp?cat=1
http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/search.asp?country=Switzerland
http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/prodview.asp?cat=fontina&subcat=aosta&prod=162&cheese=italian

Brooker · 13 Feb 2005

epigene said:
You are the first American I now know who is lactose-intolerant!

Actually, there are many Japanese who are lactose-intolerant, especially among the middle-aged and elderly (including my husband). Probably that's the reason use of dairy products does not develop so rapidly as love for MacDonalds did!

I think probably many more Americans are lactose intolerant than it seems. Many people have mild cases and don't even realize it. I was probably about 24 years old before I realized that I was having "problems" because of dairy. However, it also got worse as I got older.

epigene · 13 Feb 2005

Thanks for the info, rakuten!!

You can buy that in Japan from...who else, Rakuten Ichiba

US$50 per set!! Wow! (I'd rather be in Europe!! But I need to try this... ☝ )
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/food-hokkaido/532057/537802/#set

rakuten · 13 Feb 2005

epigene said:
Thanks for the info, rakuten!!

You can buy that in Japan from...who else, Rakuten Ichiba

US$50 per set!! Wow! (I'd rather be in Europe!! But I need to try this... ☝ )
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/food-hokkaido/532057/537802/#set

Oh! Never had cheese from Hokkaido, must try that next time!
And yes who else - Rakuten Ichiba ichiban ;-)

You can try here as well (don't know whether reliable sources or not, it's what I found with Google in 2 min):
http://www.gourmetfoodstore.com/cheese/
http://www.gourmetfoodstore.com/cheese/swiss-cheese.asp
http://www.swisscolony.com/sdx/H19384.jsp
http://www.cheesesupply.com/default.php?cPath=3_18
http://www.idealcheese.com/

Maciamo · 13 Feb 2005

Oddly enough, the Japanese show a incomprehensible repulsion for some delicacies of their Asian neighbours... like fried scorpions and cockroaches. Hmm, a bag of fried cockroaches to go to the cinema on a romantic date. I am dribbling just to think about it.

thomas · 13 Feb 2005

Maciamo said:
Oddly enough, the Japanese show a incomprehensible repulsion for some delicacies of their Asian neighbours...

Then what about hachinoko (boiled wasp larvae) or inago (fried locusts)?

The Japanese have used insects as human food since ancient times. The practice probably started in the Japanese Alps, where many aquatic insects are captured and eaten. Thousands of years ago, this region had a large human population but a shortage of animal protein. Since the area had an abundance of aquatic insects, this food source became very important for human survival.

The Japanese still use insects in many recipes. If you were to go to a restaurant in Tokyo, you might have the opportunity to sample some of these insect-based dishes hachi-no-ko - boiled wasp larvae

zaza-mushi - aquatic insect larvae

inago - fried rice-field grasshoppers

semi - fried cicada

sangi - fried silk moth pupae

Most of these insects are caught wild except for silk moth pupae. They are by-products of the silk industry. Silk moths are raised in mass for their ability to produce silk. The larvae, the young silk moths, produce the silk. Once they pupate, they can no longer produce silk and are then used as food.

=> eat-online.net - This domain is for sale!

Maciamo · 14 Feb 2005

thomas said:
Then what about hachinoko (boiled wasp larvae) or inago (fried locusts)?

I have discussed that with many Japanese, and I only found 2 (out of about 30) who had actually eaten these - one from Kyushu and the other from Nagano prefecture.

Have you ever seen hachinoko or inago in Tokyo, because I haven't (but haven't really looked for it) ?

thomas · 14 Feb 2005

Maciamo said:
I have discussed that with many Japanese, and I only found 2 (out of about 30) who had actually eaten these - one from Kyushu and the other from Nagano prefecture.

Have you ever seen hachinoko or inago in Tokyo, because I haven't (but haven't really looked for it) ?

No, it's definitely an innaka thing, and according to my limited observations also a generational issue. I was told you can find inago in many stores in Tokyo, although I haven't had the chance yet of buying it myself.

Malaika · 17 Feb 2005

My opinion of japanese not liking western food, is that I don't blame them, I mean I can understand that western foods are like greasing, oily and fatty, so forth.

they are used to eating things that are not that, but healthy, which is why they live longer lives.

so I don't blame them.

bossel · 17 Feb 2005

Malaika said:
My opinion of japanese not liking western food, is that I don't blame them, I mean I can understand that western foods are like greasing, oily and fatty, so forth.

they are used to eating things that are not that, but healthy, which is why they live longer lives.

You seem to suffer a bit from prejudice.
Western food is much more varied than you seem to think, eg. some sort of Mediterranean diet is supposed to be very healthy.

Malaika · 18 Feb 2005

bossel said:
You seem to suffer a bit from prejudice.
Western food is much more varied than you seem to think, eg. some sort of Mediterranean diet is supposed to be very healthy.

Maybe so, but that is what I think *shrugs*, I mean I do eat western food, so I would understand why.

but hey I'm learning, it doesn't hurt to learn, does it?

misa.j · 18 Feb 2005

Some diner foods that are not cooked well enough for me make me hard to move afterwords, like barely cooked sausages, extremely cheesey omelette w/ three eggs, bacon cheese burger, or fries w/ gravy.

If they are cooked very well, I mean as well as they are almost dried out, I like them once in a while, but still I can't do jumping-jacks after eating those. Although I know it is hard to get foods that are well done at diners because of their fast paced service.

bossel · 18 Feb 2005

misa.j said:
Some diner foods that are not cooked well enough for me make me hard to move afterwords, like barely cooked sausages, extremely cheesey omelette w/ three eggs, bacon cheese burger, or fries w/ gravy.

Barely cooked sausages? What about sausages not cooked at all, simply smoked like cabanossi?

Talking about non-cooked: what do you think of eating spiced minced meat raw (in Germany called Mett from pork, Tatar from beef)?

misa.j · 18 Feb 2005

I have heard of Tartar before, but I'll pass either that or Mett.
I like my meat well done. Smoking is a way of cooking, and smoked sausages are good, which I still would cook them even more in my skillet to get grease out.

Row sliced beef was quite popular in Japan till mad cow disease started to surface.

Sensuikan San · 18 Feb 2005

Ah ! Steak Tartare !

Used to love it, prepare it and have it on a regular basis - until my wife virtually banned it from our home ! Her concerns about mad cow disease were the reason ... and possibly, well founded. (Sigh...)

In my observation, however, the problems with consuming anything raw, are not usually the food itself - but the cleanliness of the utensils used in preparation, and the cleanliness of the individual responsible for the preparation.

Regards,

epigene · 18 Feb 2005

Although I myself don't eat beef raw, cooking does not prevent mad cow's disease (BSE). The prions withstand very high temperature. The most effective prevention is avoiding the brain, spinal cord, eyes, and bone marrow.

BSE is not directly linked to cleanliness in the kitchen and of the chef. The problem lies in the slaughterhouse.... ☝

Sensuikan San · 19 Feb 2005

Yes...I can accept that Epigene. Thanks.

Lina Inverse · 21 Feb 2005

Maciamo said:
More simply, many Japanese can't eat any other meat than pork, beef, chicken, duck, fish and seafood (some of course can't eat some fish or seafood). For example, many Japanese dislike lamb and have the strange idea that lamb is regularily eaten in any other country. But more interestingly, many Japanese do not (want to) eat turkey, rabbit, venison, ostrich, kangaroo, camel, crocodile, frogs, snails, or just anything they don't know. I have tried all of these (several times each) and like all of them.

I can't stand any meat except pork, and I can't stand any sort of seafood or fish either
How's that? Not really fond of rye bread either...

Western Foods not liked by Japanese

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