Japan has been the base of Japanese diets for millennia, but now it seems consumers need a little foreign inspiration to boost sales.
In Japan, the unthinkable has happened. Rice, the staple food of the Japanese diet since ancient times, is seeing a decrease in demand. While many households still eat rice with just about every meal, and the ingredient is still at the heart of Japanese cooking, Japanese food culture isn't quite the same as it once was. Recent decades have brought an increase in both the availability of and interest in foreign cuisines that use less of the short-grain glutenous white rice that the farmers of Japan have been growing for centuries, and even more recent years have brought a wave of health-conscious (and carbohydrate-avoidant) trends to the daily diet of many people around Japan. The, perhaps inevitable, consequence of these changes is clear: rice isn't selling as well as it used to.
According to data published by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the Japanese market still consumed a whopping 7 million tons of rice over the course of a year between 2020 and 2021. But while that may seem like plenty, the reality is that the quantity of rice consumed in Japan has been steadily dropping over the past decade. Ten years ago, the total rice consumption by the people of Japan totaled more than 8 million tonsーwhich means the quantity has decreased by more than a million tons by this past year. That's a big difference for Japan's rice farmers.
So, what kind of moves can the rice growers and promoters of Japan make to encourage diners and home cooks around Japan, and hopefully increase rice consumption? Well, one of many new initiatives comes from Tabe Choku, an online retailer specializing in facilitating sales of groceries and ingredients from Japan's farmers and food producers directly to consumers. Seeing the same drop in rice sales as other grocers around Japan, Tabe Choku is trying to stir up interest in this blase ingredient, and to do that they're borrowing a little bit of exotic charm from the likes of… France!
France may not be famous for rice-based cuisine like the cultures of Asia, or even have a star offering like Italy's luscious rice-based risotto, but French cuisine holds a certain undeniable charm in Japan, where French restaurants are a go-to choice for fancy dinners, and French-style patisseries offer more or less authentic pastries all over the country. And so, when it came to reinventing simple white rice and granting it new mystique, Tabe Choku turned to French-Japanese chef Claire Kamiya for some inspiration. In the end, the solution they came up with was a simple French rice pudding, dubbed "riz au lait."
Beginning at the end of September, Tabe Choku will be initiating their riz au lait project by providing Kamiya's own recipe for the simple dish for free, sending the rice pudding recipe to participating rice farmers, and inviting them to include the information along with their rice when they ship it to waiting customers. The exotically seductive prospect of this foreign French dessert, they hope, will tempt consumers to buy more rice and expand their home cooking repertoires.
Of course, this riz au lait project isn't the only rice-forward initiative to come from Tabe Choku or other Japanese rice promoters, and many more unique rice-based recipes and products are in the works. But who knows, maybe the simple, sweet flavor of this easy rice-and-milk recipe will find fans among the children of Japan or explode in popularity among the country's heavy social media users, and become a catalyst for a new boom of rice interest in Japan. In the meantime, those with an interest in riz au lait can consider buying a new sack of rice for this special recipe… or just google "riz au lait" and follow one of the many recipes that instantly pop up.
For more info and updates from Japan, check Japankuru for new articles, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
PROFILE
The latest news from Japan - learn what's new in the land of the rising sun, from an international group right on the scene.
COMMENT
FEATURED MEDIA
VIEW MOREWhich snacks make the best Japanese souvenirs?~ Jaga Pirika ~ 일본과자 선물 뭐하지?~자가피리카 편~ #pr #calbee #jagapokkuru #japanesesnacks #japanesefood #japanesesouvenir #japantravel #japantrip #naritaairport #hokkaido #나리타국제공항 #일본여행선물 #흔하지않은기념품 #일본쇼핑리스트 #일본과자추천 #고구마과자 #일본간식추천 #일본면세점쇼핑 #개별포장 #일본감자칩 #도쿄나리타공항면세점 #현지인추천 #일본여행 #일본기념품리스트 #자가포쿠루 #자가피리카
Asakusa's Sanja Matsuri, one of the biggest festivals in all of Tokyo, is almost here! Make sure you check out the festival route so you don't miss all the festivities this May. #asakusa #sanjafestival #sanjamatsuri #asakusashrine #sensoji #sensojitemple #japanesefestival #shintoshrine #japaneseculture #tokyo #tokyotrip #tokyotravel #asakusasightseeing #matsuri #japantrip #japantravel #springinjapan #tokyotravel #japankuru #산자마츠리 #아사쿠사 #일본마츠리 #일본여행 #일본5월
Odaiba's DiverCity Tokyo Plaza is home to the famous real-size 20m-tall Unicorn Gundam, and the popular shopping center has even more Gundam on the inside! Check out the Gundam Base Tokyo on the 7th floor for shelves upon shelves of Gunpla, and the Gundam Base Tokyo Annex on the 2nd floor for cool anime merchandise. Both shops have tons of limited-edition items! #pr #odaiba #tokyo #tokyotrip #japantrip #japantravel #PR #divercity #divercitytokyoplaza #tokyoshopping #gundam #unicorngundam #gundambasetokyo #anime #otaku #gunpla #japankuru #오다이바 #다이바시티도쿄 #오다이바건담 #건담 #일본건담 #건프라 #건담베이스도쿄
Evangelion, in miniature!? Tokyo's SMALL WORLDS Miniature Museum is actually a must-see for anime lovers, thanks to the tiny Evangelion Hangar and Tokyo-III... plus a whole universe of other scenes both real and fictional. #smallworlds #smallworldstokyo #tokyotrip #tokyotravel #evangelion #eva #anime #miniature #miniatures #animefigure #japantrip #japantravel #에반게리온 #스몰월드 #에반겔리온 #スモールワールズ #오다이바 #아리아케
Have you sat down for a snack at Sumida Aquarium yet? This aquarium next to Tokyo Skytree is known for its penguins and garden eels, but we can't get enough of their cute snacks! There are lots of good seats around the aquarium, too, so it almost feels like one big cafe. 🐧 • Find out more at Japankuru.com! (Link in bio.) • #japankuru #sumidaaquarium #skytree #tokyoskytree #solamachi #sumida #tokyo #tokyotrip #tokyotravel #aquarium #japanesesweets #themecafe #すみだ水族館 #Japan #日本 #일본 #Japon #ญี่ปุ่น #Japão #япония #japantravel #日本旅行 #日本旅遊 #japan_of_insta #japantrip #traveljapan #japan🇯🇵 #igerstokyo #explorejapan
For anime fans, the Evangelion areas at Small Worlds Miniature Museum are a must see! The tiny miniature people in the Evangelion Hangar look like ants beneath the moving Unit-01, Unit-00, and Unit-02! And over in Tokyo-III, characters like Shinji, Rei, and Katsuragi live life on a miniature scale. #odaiba #tokyo #tokyotrip #japantrip #japantravel #ariake #smallworlds #miniaturemuseum #smallworldstokyo #tokyotravel #evangelion #eva #anime #miniature #miniatures #animefigure #japankuru #스몰월드 #에반게리온 #오다이바 #오다이바관광 #오다이바스몰월드 #미니어쳐