健康、食の安全を気にするあなたへ。
無添加食品や健康にいいと考える食品を紹介します。
For people who care about health and safety of food.
I will introduce food with no artificial ingredients and healthy food for everyone.
I do not have many food that I dislike, but I do care about what I eat and what to not eat, especially food that I eat everyday. I'm not a person who spends a lot on food. I compare prices, see ingredients, enjoy grocery shopping and cooking. It is very hard to eat 100% natural. I don't want to be so stressed thinking about this, so I try not to be so strict to myself but careful enough.
I hope information here helps you stay healthy in Japan.
What I try to avoid is: artificial sweetener, chemical coloring, unnecessary flavoring, many kinds of chemical amino acid etc.
Note: These products I show on this page are recommended by my personal view. I do not mean that the other products are bad.
I hope information here helps you stay healthy in Japan.
What I try to avoid is: artificial sweetener, chemical coloring, unnecessary flavoring, many kinds of chemical amino acid etc.
Note: These products I show on this page are recommended by my personal view. I do not mean that the other products are bad.
I posted an article on my blog about less chemical and organic fresh food in Kumamoto. Check it out here!
○調味料(ちょうみりょう) Seasoning stuff
砂糖不使用ジャム(さとうふしようじゃむ)Sugar-free jam Vegan-friendly
Aohata Marugoto Kajitsu jam is made only with fruit sweetness. Each flavor is not 100% of the fruit but has other fruits juice such as apple juice. You can enjoy chunks of fruit. There are 125g and 250g jars. A 250g jar costs around 350-400 yen. I often get it on a sale. Good for bread, crepe, cake or as ice cream topping. |
醤油(しょうゆ) Soy sauce Vegan-friendly
Soy sauce is essential for Japanese cuisine. There are so many kinds of soy sauce in Japan. I like to use soy sauce without any alcohol to make the process faster, or sweetener or amino acid. Basically cheap soy sauce is made with those things.
There are many good ones, too, but this is the one that I use now. The ingredients are: soy beans, wheat, salt. This is all.
みりん Sweet rice alcohol for cooking Vegan-friendly
Mirin is also essential for Japanese cooking along with soy sauce. There are 本みりん (real mirin) and みりん風調味料(mirin flavor sauce). The difference is that 本みりん is made of rice, rice koji yeast, alcohol, sugar, while the latter one has sugar, flavor and other stuff to make the product faster. 本みりん contains about 14% of alcohol and is categorized as alcohol (みりん風-- contains only a little alcohol) so it is more expensive. However, it definitely has a better taste and gives a better outcome of dish. If you make dressing, it is better to use みりん風調味料 so that you will not taste alcohol in the dressing.
Mirin is also essential for Japanese cooking along with soy sauce. There are 本みりん (real mirin) and みりん風調味料(mirin flavor sauce). The difference is that 本みりん is made of rice, rice koji yeast, alcohol, sugar, while the latter one has sugar, flavor and other stuff to make the product faster. 本みりん contains about 14% of alcohol and is categorized as alcohol (みりん風-- contains only a little alcohol) so it is more expensive. However, it definitely has a better taste and gives a better outcome of dish. If you make dressing, it is better to use みりん風調味料 so that you will not taste alcohol in the dressing.
無添加味噌(むてんかみそ) Pure miso paste Vegan-friendly
Miso soup is Japanese mom's recipe. If you go to miso section, there are so many you don't know which to choose.
I like to use miso which is 無添加. 無添加 means "not added" but in this case "no artificial ingredients added". Traditional miso is made of rice and/or wheat and/or soy beans, salt and yeast. Some miso have dashi and sweetener so consumers can easily make miso dishes. I like to add by myself, though. Also, some miso have amino acid to add more umami flavor, but I don't really like it either.
The miso on the picture is my favorite. This white-yellow color miso is popular in Kyushu and I use it not only for miso soup but also for some dishes.
Miso soup is Japanese mom's recipe. If you go to miso section, there are so many you don't know which to choose.
I like to use miso which is 無添加. 無添加 means "not added" but in this case "no artificial ingredients added". Traditional miso is made of rice and/or wheat and/or soy beans, salt and yeast. Some miso have dashi and sweetener so consumers can easily make miso dishes. I like to add by myself, though. Also, some miso have amino acid to add more umami flavor, but I don't really like it either.
The miso on the picture is my favorite. This white-yellow color miso is popular in Kyushu and I use it not only for miso soup but also for some dishes.
無添加ぽんず(むてんかぽんず) Pure citrus soy sauce Vegan-friendly
Both my husband and I are fans of ぽんず or ぽんず醤油. We use it for tofu, nabe and other dishes. We have tried many kinds of ぽんず before but many of them tasted very "artificial". I mean, amino acid. Some have dashi, too. I like dashi but not artificially made dashi flavor. The one on the picture is what you can find at supermarkets. It says on the bottom "化学調味料無添加" which means "no artificial seasoning stuff added". It has a good refreshing flavor of citrus.
Both my husband and I are fans of ぽんず or ぽんず醤油. We use it for tofu, nabe and other dishes. We have tried many kinds of ぽんず before but many of them tasted very "artificial". I mean, amino acid. Some have dashi, too. I like dashi but not artificially made dashi flavor. The one on the picture is what you can find at supermarkets. It says on the bottom "化学調味料無添加" which means "no artificial seasoning stuff added". It has a good refreshing flavor of citrus.
無添加だし(むてんかだし) Dashi without artificial ingredients
I like dashi in dishes. Traditionally, we make dashi with dried bonito, baby sardines or seaweed and other stuff. But we don't want to buy these only for making dashi. It takes time, too. I occasionally make dashi by myself, but only when I get dashi ingredients for a reasonable price. Usually I use dashi powder like the one on the picture. 無添加だし series are sold in many supermarkets and these products don't contain amino acid and other artificial flavor. Not 100 % from raw materials, but still good to use in daily life.
I like dashi in dishes. Traditionally, we make dashi with dried bonito, baby sardines or seaweed and other stuff. But we don't want to buy these only for making dashi. It takes time, too. I occasionally make dashi by myself, but only when I get dashi ingredients for a reasonable price. Usually I use dashi powder like the one on the picture. 無添加だし series are sold in many supermarkets and these products don't contain amino acid and other artificial flavor. Not 100 % from raw materials, but still good to use in daily life.
無添加ふりかけ(むてんかふりかけ) Furikake topping without artificial ingredients
When I don't have anything else to eat for breakfast, I sprinkle furikake on rice. Furikake has to be dry, rather strong flavor with a small amount, it usually contains amino acid. This リケン series is made 無添加. Maybe you will find it a little bit salty compared to the other furikake, but this can be solved by sprinkling less. There are seaweed and sesame, seaweed and corn, seaweed and ume plum flavors.
When I don't have anything else to eat for breakfast, I sprinkle furikake on rice. Furikake has to be dry, rather strong flavor with a small amount, it usually contains amino acid. This リケン series is made 無添加. Maybe you will find it a little bit salty compared to the other furikake, but this can be solved by sprinkling less. There are seaweed and sesame, seaweed and corn, seaweed and ume plum flavors.
○Do not buy カロリーオフ(calories off=less calories) beverages if you don't want to take artificial sweetener
I cannot believe how I could keep drinking カロリーオフ powder coffee for a coffee break at work for months some years ago. It tastes so chemical. I find artificial sweetener in so many products - beverages, snacks, even in some curry sauce cubes.
I cannot believe how I could keep drinking カロリーオフ powder coffee for a coffee break at work for months some years ago. It tastes so chemical. I find artificial sweetener in so many products - beverages, snacks, even in some curry sauce cubes.
Dishes, Snacks and Sweets
無添加ソフトパン粉 Shortening-free Breadcrumbs
Star Foods Mutenka panko, or additives-free breadcrumbs is made of flour produced in Japan, yeast, salt, barley koji saccharified solution and rice koji bacteria. Regular breadcrumbs cost around 100 to 150 yen for 150-200g and this 200g package costs 170 yen. I am glad I can now buy this product near my place. I found it in drug store コスモス.
Star Foods Mutenka panko, or additives-free breadcrumbs is made of flour produced in Japan, yeast, salt, barley koji saccharified solution and rice koji bacteria. Regular breadcrumbs cost around 100 to 150 yen for 150-200g and this 200g package costs 170 yen. I am glad I can now buy this product near my place. I found it in drug store コスモス.
だんご Rice cake made from rice flour Vegan-friendly
Why don't you make easy Japanese sweets at home?
If you like mochi and dango kinds of sweets, you should try making dango at home using だんご粉(だんごこ, dango flour), or dango flour. Dango is a Japanese sweet like mochi but less sticky. It is made from mochi rice flour and uruchi rice flour. What you need to do is mix dangoko and water as the instruction on the package says, make small balls, boil them and eat with anko (bean paste) or kinako (see the text below). No fat, less sugar than cakes, stuffing. Regular package of dangoko is 200g, it serves 2-4 people and it costs only 100-150 yen. The whole process takes only 20 minutes or so. Cheap, quick, tasty. What is better? One thing you should know is that it becomes hard to chew as time goes by. Eat it fresh, at the latest within 3 hours.
Why don't you make easy Japanese sweets at home?
If you like mochi and dango kinds of sweets, you should try making dango at home using だんご粉(だんごこ, dango flour), or dango flour. Dango is a Japanese sweet like mochi but less sticky. It is made from mochi rice flour and uruchi rice flour. What you need to do is mix dangoko and water as the instruction on the package says, make small balls, boil them and eat with anko (bean paste) or kinako (see the text below). No fat, less sugar than cakes, stuffing. Regular package of dangoko is 200g, it serves 2-4 people and it costs only 100-150 yen. The whole process takes only 20 minutes or so. Cheap, quick, tasty. What is better? One thing you should know is that it becomes hard to chew as time goes by. Eat it fresh, at the latest within 3 hours.
きな粉(きなこ) Roasted Soybean Flour Vegan-friendly
There are many sweets with kinako in Japan. It goes well with rice flour sweets. There are even kinako flavor chocolates! I like kinako on dango. Kinako itself is not sweet, so what I do (and most sweet makers do) is that mix kinako with sugar and a little salt. For me the good proportion of kinako and sugar is 1 : 1, and only a little salt. It's better to put salt than just sugar. Both dangoko and kinako are sold cheap and it's easy to make kinako dango, it appears on our table for snack once in a while. For two people it costs only less than 100 yen, I think.
Also, some people drink kinako milk (mix milk or soy milk and kinako, possibly honey or sugar). You can add kinako in yogurt, too. The potential of kinako is unknown...
There are many sweets with kinako in Japan. It goes well with rice flour sweets. There are even kinako flavor chocolates! I like kinako on dango. Kinako itself is not sweet, so what I do (and most sweet makers do) is that mix kinako with sugar and a little salt. For me the good proportion of kinako and sugar is 1 : 1, and only a little salt. It's better to put salt than just sugar. Both dangoko and kinako are sold cheap and it's easy to make kinako dango, it appears on our table for snack once in a while. For two people it costs only less than 100 yen, I think.
Also, some people drink kinako milk (mix milk or soy milk and kinako, possibly honey or sugar). You can add kinako in yogurt, too. The potential of kinako is unknown...
トップバリュグリーンアイシリーズ TOPVALU Green Eye series partly vegan-friendly
This is no secret. The nationwide chain TOPVALU has this selection of healthy, chemical reduced products called グリーンアイ (Green Eye). The logo is this:
This is no secret. The nationwide chain TOPVALU has this selection of healthy, chemical reduced products called グリーンアイ (Green Eye). The logo is this:
There are three kinds: Green Eye Organic is for vegetables, Green Eye Natural is for fish and meat, and Green Eye free from is for products that are made as few chemicals as possible.
無添加食品コーナー、アレルギーがある人のための食品があるお店
Stores where you can buy 無添加 food and food for people who have allergies
Youme Mart (or Youme Town grocery area)
Aeon (or Maxvalu, Maxvalu is run by aeon)
HI hirose
Stores where you can buy 無添加 food and food for people who have allergies
Youme Mart (or Youme Town grocery area)
Aeon (or Maxvalu, Maxvalu is run by aeon)
HI hirose