This article is from WeChat official account:Japan Pass (ID: ribentong-517japan), author: eat rice cakes gray wolf Jun, from the title figure: “night canteen” stills

This year’s new crown epidemic has a great impact on Japan’s food and catering industry.

In the NHK interview at the end of March, more than 80% of catering and food companies said that until an interview at the end of July, the passenger flow was only restored to about 50%, and both sales and customer sources were affected. The impact is huge, and life is quite difficult.

But there are always more solutions than difficulties. A crisis is also an opportunity.

No, it is quite popular among middle-aged and elderly people in Japan, but the dried plum, which is not well eaten among young people, suddenly reached the top and became one of the top gourmets in Japan.

Hundreds of companies have made drastic attempts on how to “prunes”. After all, in such a special period, this kind of healthy and cheap food is really suitable.

CCTV2, reports on plum dry heat

In Japan, umeboshi has always been a presence.

Although plum was weak among young people in the 1990s, it has become hot again in recent years.

In a poll conducted by the Japan Tourism Business News in 2019, 85% of Japanese netizens expressed their preference for plums. Among them, 90% of young people under the age of 20 chose to like plums. This is evident in its nationality. Among the friends who like prunes, 70% like sweet prunes, and 30% like sour prunes.

Tourism Economic News, the results of the 2019 questionnaire on plums

A small half of the interviewees also knew that prunes have a certain medicinal value, and some even said that regardless of their effects and favorite things, they will not tire of eating every day.

In various Japanese dramas and animations, plum rice balls and plum tea with rice are frequently brushed. The home-cooked porridge and small dishes of plum tea with rice, like a warm current, can give people a touch of comfort in the late night canteen. We are also very curious outside the camera,

Where is this kind of “civilian” food full of taste?

“Crayon Shin-chan” Homemade Plum Rice

“Late Night Canteen” Plum Tea Soup Rice

Japanese plums are so amazing? With a white rice, it can make people eat it with a deep and deep flavor. Why do I cook rice in plain water, so even dogs don’t like it? (Funny face)

Today, let’s take a look at the prunes with their own “healthy” attributes.Step by step to become the basis of Japan’s taste, embarking on the road to the top.

1. Japanese national food with a shelf life of 400 years

First of all, Xiaotong will first explain that Japanese plums are different from our time-killing snacks such as plums, prunes and sour plums. They are closer to our pickled mustard and dried radish. For the pickles, eating alone will definitely make people “raise blood pressure.” It’s no wonder that plums always appear together with good friends and rice.

You must have dried plums, you must have plums, you must have plums, and you must have plum trees. The plum trees are native to China. Japanese academic circles generally believe that it was our envoy to the Tang Dynasty that introduced such things as ume plums to Japan. Friends in Japan, you are welcome. This is also a small thing that we Chinese foodies have done for the world’s foodies.

In the mainland of Japan, the term Umeboshi dates back to the Heian Period (794～1192). It is said that Emperor Murakami won One kind of disease, searched for famous doctors and did not get better, but this disease was cured by the combination of “plum dried seaweed soup” which is a slightly dark cooking, you say God is not magical?

Murakami Emperor

This is not all metaphysics. In the “Treatise on Febrile Diseases” by the medical sage Zhang Zhongjing, it is mentioned that ebony plum has the “five stop”, that is, the effects of quenching thirst, relieving cough, relieving diarrhea, relieving pain, and relieving bleeding.

Modern scientific research shows that the citric acid in plums can promote saliva secretion and digestion and absorption of food, in addition to promoting metabolism and anti-fatigue functions. The polyphenols in plums have certain antibacterial and anti-oxidant effects, and they can actually increase immunity.

Note: When plums are ripe, their greenish green color is called green plums, and green plums become ebony plums after low-temperature steaming and other processing.

Dried plums and plums are so good that in the subsequent Kamakura and the Warring States period, this kind of food that is easy to preserve and has a medicinal effect is naturally popular with samurai. It became an indispensable “strategic material” at that time. Some people say that well-preserved prunes have a shelf life of more than 400 years.

In the Edo period, society developed further, and ordinary households began to make umeboshi. At this time, the practice of umeboshi was no different from today. It is written in “The Book of Food of the Dynasty”:

“Pick the freshly ripe plums and wash them, sprinkle them with salt and marinate them for two or three days. After the plum juice is exhausted, put them in the sun and dip them in the original brine plum juice at dusk. Take it out and continue to expose it to the sun, repeating until the plum juice is used up, and finally save it in a ceramic pot.”

So the traditional Japanese plum, the salt content can reach an astonishing 25%-30%, it is a “salt crystal”. Xian is just one word, and it’s a terrible meal, so plum dried rice came into being.

2. Memories of Showa: Umeboshi

In modern times, if you give you a bowl of dried plum rice, the breath of “poverty” will come to your face,

ButDuring the Showa period, it was the “taste of hometown” in many Japanese hearts, and it had a resounding name, called Hinomaru Bento(日の丸弁当).

This bowl of dried plum rice brought the double satisfaction of psychology and stomach to countless people during the most embarrassing period in Japan.

Low-salt plum rice is healthier

In the decree (Japanese Agriculture and Forestry Food Law), Japan also strictly stipulates that only pickled with plum and salt It can be called dried prunes. In addition, add white sugar, vinegar, honey and other seasonings or spices to pickle, called dried prunes.

The most admired dried plums in contemporary Japanese are the Kishu Nanko plums from the Wakayama area of ​​Kansai. The plums produced here are thin and thick, making them a rare product.

The difference between dried prunes and seasoned prunes

Jizhou Nangaomei

Usually, the salt content of dried prunes is only about 1/3 or even lower than that of dried prunes, which is more in line with modern people’s low-salt and light diet, and the taste is rich and varied, so Today’s food companies use their brains to develop delicious flavored plums.

However, due to the low salt content, the shelf life of dried plums is generally only about 6 months, which is not as durable as dried plums and cannot be passed down from the ancestors~ But this is not a problem. Affected by this year’s epidemic, Japanese people Umeboshi’s enthusiasm is greater than ever.

3. The new experience of “top stream” dried plums under the epidemic

As soon as the epidemic began, on the Internet, there have been rumors that “eating prunes can prevent the new crown”, is it similar to our Shuanghuanglian?

Twitter rumors that Meigan can prevent the new crown? ?

Xiaotong thinks that the rumor may come from Japan’s 2010 research conclusion on Umeboshi.

At that time, researchers at Wakayama Prefectural Medical University discovered polyphenols from dried plums that can inhibit the proliferation of influenza A H1N1 virus and named them epoxy lyoniresinol(Epoxy resin phenol). Under the action of this substance, after 7 hours, 90% of the virus proliferation in the infected cells is inhibited, which is an excellent effect.

Research results of dried plums on inhibiting H1N1 virus

Associate Professor Yocai Utsunomiya directly said: “Eating 5 prunes a day may have the effect of suppressing the virus. I hope this can be an opportunity to relearn traditional Japanese food culture.”

This Amway straight shot was still effective after so many years.

Of course, even if dried plums do have a certain effect on H1N1 influenza A, it is probably not good for the new crown. However, Japanese friends did not take this statement seriously. Their real thoughts may be, We love to eat prunes, anyway, it is healthy and cost-effective, eating healthier, so we don’t suffer.

Even Japanese parliamentarians have also adapted to the times. Members of the Mei Zhenxing Parliamentary Alliance paid out of their pockets and sent 10,000 Kishu Nangao Mei to the front line.Of medical workers.

Of course, the medical staff are also very grateful, saying that “I finally got a way to replenish salt during busy work, and will continue to protect the lives and health of the people.”

Food merchants and companies naturally follow their preferences, not only innovating on the plum itself, but also introducing the “Internet model”. In Tokyo, Japan, there is actually a “Standing Umeboshi specialty store”.

Tokyo, promotional materials for Umeboshi specialty stores

As the name suggests, this is a store that specializes in experiencing different flavors of Umeboshi. Although it is eaten standing up, it has a wide selection of drinks, from soft silver tea to Japanese sake, which can suit everyone.

The variety of dried plums in the store

For hard-core prunes lovers, like coffee and tea, you can carefully appreciate the differences and differences between these dozens of plums.

Drinking tea to buy drunk, just drink plums, drink small wine, not occupy the stomach at all, thinking about it is beautiful.

For those who are curious about early adopters, the “experience of eating dried plums while standing in the store” is definitely a “new version of the boat” that you have never tasted before.

Different people can get different feelings. Isn’t this what new retail now calls “experiential consumption”?

In the final analysis, Umeboshi can become hot again in Japan because everyone loves it deeply. It was once in danger of being left behind due to its “aging”, but now it has returned.

Chances are always reserved for those who are preparedMei~

The label of dried plums themselves as healthy and friendly to the people, coupled with a mature industrial chain and innovative experience attempts, coincides with the new crown epidemic, a major event closely related to people around the world.

When the time and place are right and the people are in harmony, all are in place, and the fire will be a matter of course.


This article is from WeChat official account:Japan Pass (ID: ribentong-517japan) author: eat rice cakes gray wolf Jun