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Hello There! We are GREATFOOD staff, and its our pleasure to welcome you to our blog!We made this is for English Class assignment, but we have a great time making it.We hope you enjoy reading this magazine as much as we enjoyed making it for you!

ENJOY!!! :D

P.S: here is our magazine, check it out!!!

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByGJfpgNY4sXaWF5RnRUcjlVams 

Natto Challange!

Natto and Young People

             Natto is traditional Japanese food and it  have really unique taste, but is it still popular among young people in Japan today? To find out, we have a survey about it targeted to Tokyo Univerity of Agriculture students. The respondents devided into two groups, Japanese students and International students.

From the survey we can assume that natto is still popular among Japanese students, with 83% of total respondent admit to like natto. And for international student, only small portion of the respondent, 23%, admit to like natto. Where 39% admit to dislike it. We also can see that there is a lot of International student respondents are never tried to eat natto, probably because of it unique characteristics.

Natto is fermented soybeans.It is rich in protein and highly nutritious. There are many sources regarding the origin of natto. One source attributes the first natto production to Hachiman Taro Yoshiie (Minamoto Clan, 1039--1106), the ancestor of Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147--1199), who established the Kamakura Shogunate and ruled Japan as a samurai, in place of the emperor. Another source gives credit to Shotoku Taishi (574? A.D.--622 A.D.), Empress of Suiko's regent. Nonetheless, the one point that all sources have one in common is that natto was made by "accident" from boiled soybeans that preserved in straw.

The important stage for soy beans to make their transformation into natto, is it need just the right temperature and humidity, and bacillus natto, a bacterium discovered in Japan that grows in the country's unique climate. Bacillus natto is found naturally almost anywhere, but it propagates most abundantly in straw (dried stems of rice or wheat; may be woven into rope, bags, barrels, etc.). In the old days, natto was wrapped in straw, a method still employed by some manufacturers today. There are a lot of straws and soybeans is in Japan, It is not difficult to imagine how natto was accidentally produced. After that, Natto was distributed nationwide and become one of unique food from Japan. In the age of Edo era, there were even Natto vendors who walked around town selling their products from the break of dawn..

Unagi Don (Unadon)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

· 2 fillets of whole Unagi (eel)

· Sansou (topping)

· Unagi Sauce*

Instructions:

1. Cut Unagi in half (or maybe third) to fit inside your serving bowls. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush oil lightly (I use spray oil). Place unagi on top.

2. WITHOUT preheat, put the baking sheet in the MIDDLE rack of your oven, and broil on high for 7 minutes (no need to flip).

3. After 7 minutes or so, take it out and brush the Unagi Sauce over.

4. Continue to broil for another 30 seconds to 60 seconds until you see bubbles on top of Unagi.

5. Serve rice in a bowl and pour or brush Unagi Sauce on the rice. Serve Unagi on top of rice and pour/brush more Unagi Sauce. Serve immediately. You can also sprinkle some Sansho.

Sources: http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/unagi-don-unadon/

BeefRendang 

Yield : 4-6

Ingredients:

· 500 g beef

· 4 cups coconut milk (made from 1 coconut if using freshly granted coconut)

· 2 bay leaves

· 2 kaffir lime leaves

· 3 cardamom pods, bruised

· 1 stalk lemongrass

· 2 fresh turmeric, leaves

· 4 cm cinnamon sticks

· 4 red chilies, sliced (you can add more if you wish)

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 1/2 teaspoon sugar or 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

· 8 shallots, peeled and sliced

· 6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

· 3 cm ginger

· 3 cm galangal, peeled and sliced (laos)

· 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed

· 2 cm turmeric

Instructions:

1. Grind or blend shallot, garlic, ginger, galangal, peppercorn and turmeric into paste.

2. Cut the beef into small but thick slices square.

3. Put the beef, spice paste and all other ingredients into a wok and bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly to prevent the coconut milk from separating. Cook over low heat, stirring from time to time, until the meat is very tender and all the sauce has evaporated.

4. Continue cooking the beef, which will fry in the oil that has come out from the coconut milk, until brown.

5. Serve with warm Basmati or Jasmine plain rice.

sources:http://norecipes.com/blog/beef-rendang-recipe/

Thai Green Curry

Ingredients:

· 1 tbsp vegetable oil

· 2 tbsp Thai green curry paste  (according to taste)

· 1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar

· 1-2 thick stalks lemongrass, fat ends bashed with a rolling pin (optional)

· 750g/1½lb skinless, boneless chicken, cut into chunks (use breast and/or leg meat)

6-8 kaffir lime leaves, torn into pieces (if unavailable, use the grated zestof 1 lime)

· 400ml/14fl oz coconut milk

Good shake of Thai fish sauce or light soy sauce

· Small handful of coriander, roughly chopped

· ½-1 lime, juice only

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the green curry paste and sugar and cook over a fairly high heat for about a minute, stirring with the lemongrass, if using. Reduce the heat slightly and stir in the chicken pieces and lime leaves or zest until coated in the paste. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce or soy sauce and bring to a simmer, cooking for 25-30 minutes until thickened slightly. Stir in the coriander and lime juice. Check for seasoning, adding more fish sauce or soy sauce if needed.

2. The curry is now best left to sit for a few minutes so the sauce becomes creamier. You will also taste the true flavours of the curry paste ingredients when it's slightly cooler. Serve with lots of fragrant Thai jasmine rice. 

source: http://www.templeofthai.com/recipes/thai_green_curry.php

Japan Sees Decline in Fish Consumption

Japan sees decline in fish consumption and the government responded fast. There’s a new project by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan called “Fast fish”, the project aim is to promote fish consumption.  We know that Japanese people often eat fish and they have great variation of fish-based dish. Japan fish and shell fish consumption per capita per day is the top of the world. Japanese people eat about 3 ounces of fish daily ,on average, while typical Americans eat fish perhaps twice a week. But, consumption of fish and shellfish is getting lower these recent years. This shift begin in early 2000’s, and since that Fish consumption has been steadily declining. The sales of sea foods at Department stores have taken a negative turn for seven years.

Experts consider there are three reasons fish consumption in Japan is decreasing. First, fish are not popular among children. Many children would rather eat spaghetti than squid sashimi or stewed fish. And that is hard challenge for working parents who greatly appreciate the convenience. Second, cooking a fish is difficult. Nowadays, many young people don’t know how to cooks fish properly. If they want to eat fish, they rather to go to restaurants than making it themself. Third, and probably the most influental, the price of fish now is higher than meatThird, and probably the most influental, the price of fish now is higher than meat  

As been said before, to overcome this problem, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan cooperate with local fisherman’s to promote fish consumption by a project called “Fast fish”. This project main objective is to make Japanese people eat more fish, by simplified the way to cook fish, so that young people and busy parents can make fish-based dish at home easily. And hopefully the fish consumption will increase by this project.

As fish consumption steadily declining in Japan, meat consumption steadily increasing. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that since 1961, the production and consumption of every major meat category has increased significantly, especially pork. In Japan, the case is also the same. In fact, between 1970 and 2005, the total amount of pork consumed in Tokyo only, increased by about 160% (equal to 11.5kg  per person in 2005) and 90% for pork (equal to 20.1kg per person in 2005). . The radical change in Japanese menus towards greater levels of meat consumption can also be easily illustrated through the rising popularity of grilled meat restaurants ( yakiniku) and fast food chains.

Fish and pork consumption in Japan

To see perspective from young people, we had our own survey with students from Tokyo University of Agriculture as respondents. From the survey, we can see that actually the respondents still prefer fish than pork for daily basis (graph 1). But in the case of application, there is not a big difference between those two commodity, they are almost the same (graph 2). And this “Fast Fish” project which simplified the way to cook fish, may succeed because a 63% of respondents consider it is hard to cook a fish..

The Reason Behind Eel Price Increasing Every Summer

The price of eel has risen sharply this summer, and it had become a big news in this country, since Japanese people love to eat eel so much. It is known that eel has been consumed in Japan since thousands years ago, so it must had been rooted in Japanese culture.
             Especially on Edo era, due to Tokugawa`s reclamation works of Edo (current Tokyo area, when vast settlements project was build, eel become favorite labor`s food in Edo because of it’s nutrition. Eel rich in protein, vitamin A, vitamin E, and so on. And mostly Japanese believed that eel good for stamina. That’s the reason behind the drastically increasing consumption of eel during summer. And of course, it also affecting the price, even until now people always worries eel`s price in every summer.

 Doyo no Ushi no Hi, which directly translated as Doyo’s Ox day. This festival is tightly related to this fish, and also contributed a big amount of number to the increasing of eel consumption during summer. Though the festival day titled Ox, the food that traditionally eaten on this day is not Ox meat but eel .Doyo correspond to 18,or 19 days of the end each four seasons . So why isn’t it called the day of eel (Unagi no hi)? That’s a rather a tricky question, because that question take us back to many centuries ago. The festival originated many centuries ago in China, where the cycle of days was based on 12 day per week rather than 7. To help people remember the cycle of days,

 each day was assigned with animal, in the same way that the old calendar arranged with 12 animals. Somehow over time the day of the Ox came to the high point of summer, that is mean the hottest day of the year, which was pinpointed as being 18 days before the first day of autumn according to the old calendar. So during Doyo no Ushi no Hi, in Edo time until now, restaurants and shops sell a lot of eels.

This summer, the price of eel has also risen sharply as a result of poor catches of young eels, beside vast consumption. The life cycle of eel was a mystery until in 2010  Japanese researcher found out how to cultivate the egg of eel. However it is not suffice, still fisherman need to get a lot of young eels to meet the demand of eel in summer. And this summer young eels are not caught enough, and the price of eel sharply increase.

The Environment Ministry on September 13^th also announced worrying report, says that Japanese eel will be put on its Red List of threatened species. The Japanese eel will be designated as "vulnerable" — the lowest of three categories of endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature classification. Government data show that annual catches of young eel for culturing has stood at a little less than 10 tons in recent years, sharply down from the historical peak of about 230 tons in the 1960s. The annual catches of adult eels have fallen below the 200-ton mark in recent years, also sharply down from nearly 3,400 tons in the 1960s. Some experts call for banning catches of adult eels and sharply reducing catches of young eel. Though the move will improve eel numbers, in the future it would be difficult to eat like we used to be.

Yumepirika, Against All Odds

The new rice brand from Hokkaido, named Yumepirika, can mantain it’s price this season because of it’s quallity. Although good harvest season on rice commodity usually means the prices of rice brands will plunged down. Nowadays, at a major supermarket in Tokyo, Yumepirika is popular among other brand although the price isn’t cheap, around 2,500 yen. Many customers said that the rice is very sticky, yet sweet, and that is Japanese people basic qualification for good rice.

Yumepirika was developed by the researchers at Hokkaido prefectural government's Kamikawa Agricultural Experiment Station in Bippu. Yumepirika consists of two words: "yume," meaning dream, and "pirika," which is the word for "beautiful" in the Ainu language of Hokkaido’s people. Hokkaido was a region that many people consider it was unsuited for rice cultivation because of it’s cold climate. But somehow this brand  can prevail, and even compete with another high grade brand like Kishikari brand etc.  Yumepirika rice was first sold in 2009. And year after year the brand gets more attention from Japanese rice consumers. In fall 2011, the brand was distributed nationwide, and received the top "special A" ranking from the Japan Grain Inspection Association and at the same time, shocked the other brand competitor.

 Hokkaido region is colder than other prefecture throughout the year. That’s why people consider that as disadvantageous for rice cultivation.  But the researcher was able to find out a way to turn the cold climate into their advantage. Yumepirika rice plant, uniquely used cold snow water to prevent the breeding of varmints and use of chemicals during the year. This unique characteristic and great achievement also intrigued many researchers around the world on this particular brand.

The Establishment of Foreign Restaurant in Japan

             New Italian restaurant in Shibuya, Napoli’s PIZZA & CAFÉ was opened last month. This restaurant is very famous and has many branches across Japan. This restaurant gained a lot of media attention, many magazines and even TV programs came to the restaurant and made a review. It is recommended for those who want to eat good Italian dishes with cheap prices.

Besides Italian restaurant, there are also a lot of another foreign food restaurants in Japan. American, Chinese, Korean, France, India, Thailand restaurant and so on, are gaining more customers every year. Even Japan has the second most McDonalds after USA. This is unique phenomena, remembering that Japanese food itself has unique taste.

To make it more clear, there is a survey targeted to Tokyo University of Agriculture Students regarding this issue. The respondent is a mix between Japanese students and International students Based on the result, beside Japanese Food, TUA students prefer China Food with a 30% vote from respondents. Italy came second with 27%, and Korea come third with 15%. This result also can also be easily illustrated through rising popularity of these foreign restaurants.

  Although the popularity of these restaurants is still rising, the survey also shows that local food (Japanese food) still becames favorite among TUA students with 63% of total respondents.