Note: This post was sponsored by JFCA, but all opinions are my own.
This past weekend, the Japanese Food Expo 2021 gave me a chance to experience Japanese food and culture from home! I had hoped to visit Japan this year to see their cherry blossoms, but travel plans have been on hold. So for now, I’ll fill that void with ramen and matcha from the Japanese Food Expo.
Traditionally, the Japanese Food Culture Association (JFCA) hosts the Japanese Food Expo each year to showcase various Japanese premium foods and beverages. The goal of the exhibition is to share the simplicity and beauty of the Japanese food that has nurtured Japanese civilization for centuries. Attending the expo is a fantastic way to learn more about the Japanese culture while sampling delicious eats and drinks!
Due to this year’s circumstances, JFCA hosted the Japanese Food Expo 2021 virtually for the first time on Mar 6th, 2021. Although an online event doesn’t quite compare to the live event, I liked that I could attend from the comforts of home. No parking to scour for or crowds to battle. This expo was also quite informative! This year, it focused on three prefectures of Japan: Aichi, Shizuoka, and Fukushima. JFCA even sent me a gift box of some of the goodies to try along with the show!
Japanese Food Expo 2021 Prefecture Highlights
Aichi Prefecture
Aichi Prefecture is part of the Central region of Honshū, Japan’s main island. It is most known for its healthy food, particularly those requiring fermentation. Perhaps one of the most famous examples is Hatcho Miso. The Japanese make this miso by fermenting steamed soybeans and salt in wooden casks over several years. This process results in a dark and boldly-flavored miso often used in broths and sauces. During the expo, host Alice sprinkled the Hatcho miso powder on ice cream. She also mixed it with mayonnaise to create a vegetable dip. One-start Michelin Chef Masanori Nagano created cute miso onigiri in a live demo as well. For experimental purposes, I will definitely need to try the miso powder with ice cream!
Shizuoka Prefecture
Shizuoka Prefecture is also part of the Central region of Honshū, and it actually borders Aichi Prefecture. It runs along the Pacific Ocean coast and is home to Mount Fuji, so you can only imagine how beautiful the land is there! With its bountiful land, tea is this prefecture’s most famous product. As such, the people there harvest and produce many premium green teas, matcha, and hojicha teas. Host Midori showed us how to make some easy and delicious-looking iced hojicha latte and iced matcha latte.
Fukushima Prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture is part of the Northeast region of Honshū. It’s also located along the Pacific Ocean coast and is part of The Diamond Route. The Diamond Route, named for the shape of the route, is a tourist route that connects Fukushima, Tochigi, and Ibaraki prefectures. They boast of “sparkling treasures” in food, sights, history and more in the heart of Japan. One of the cities, Kitakata, is known for its ramen. This year, the expo highlighted kitakata ramen noodle from Igarashi Seimen. Chef Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute, made a bowl of ramen with chicken and egg. I received these instant kitakata ramen noodles in my Japanese Food Expo 2021 gift box, and I loved them! These ramen noodles were so easy to prepare, and I loved the taste of the broth. I enjoyed the texture of the noodles too! They’re thicker than traditional ramen noodles and have a nice wavy, chewy texture.
kitakata noodles
Learning about these prefectures and their specialty foods from the Japanese Food Expo 2021 made me appreciate these foods more. The next time I visit Japan, I definitely want to visit these prefectures as well as The Diamond Route to experience the food and culture firsthand! But for now, I’m glad to know these products are now available in the United States. If I can’t go there, I can bring a taste of it home!
I’m hoping next year’s Japanese Food Expo will be a live exhibition, and I’m looking forward to learning and sampling more of the Japanese culture then!
If you missed the expo, you can watch the Japanese Food Expo 2021 here. Let me know which of these Japanese foods you would love to try!