Taste of Japan in Chicago Features a Variety of Sake, Umami Ingredients, Soy Meats, and More
A variety of Japanese food, condiments, beverages introduced by JETRO Chicago
The "Taste of Japan in Chicago," an event showcasing sake and other Japanese flavors, was held on January 25 at the ballroom of the Art Institute of Chicago. Organized by JETRO Chicago, the event featured 21 tables set up with sake, umami dashi, seasonings, soy meat, Shizuoka melon, and more. Each table was staffed by sake brewers, food ingredient makers, importers, and distributors, who introduced their products to the visitors, encouraging them to taste and sample them. Sake expert Tona Palomino of the Breakthrough Beverage Group also gave a lecture on sake.
KuramotoUS (Sakeman)
Junmai-oo-karakuchi "Suijin" (Iwate Prefecture), fruity "Ken" (Fukushima Prefecture), and "Yuzu Omoi" (Kyoto Fushimi) with the taste of yuzu juice and aroma, were introduced by Victor Huynh of the importer Sakeman. Regarding sake sales, he said, "It's increasing every year. Last year we sold for the first time in over 10 years. We expect a little bit more to increase after this winter. It slowed down during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now it stabilized and stays rebalanced.”
Obata Sake Brewery & Vino del Sol
David Festenstein of importer Vino del Sol was introducing the "Manotsuru" brand on behalf of Obata Sake Brewery on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture.
David Festenstein of Vino del Sol introduces Manotsuru sake brand brewed by Obata Brewery.
According to Festenstein, the Obata Sake Brewery was founded in 1892, and Executive Managing Director Rumiko Obata, the fifth generation of the Obata family, has reopened a closed elementary school as “Gakkogura (school brewery),” offering a long-term Sake Making program and a day workshop. Her husband, Takeshi Hirashima, is the fifth President of the Obata Brewery.
The Vino del Sol is a wine importer, importing wines from Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, and other countries. Of course, they also handle California wines.
Festenstein said, “Sake sales have been pretty growing in a certain market, especially, in retail stores and restaurants. Sales are doing O.K., but there is definitely an opportunity, and I just think that customers don’t know enough about sake, so we need to continue to educate them. We call on restaurants and retail shops that sell sake, and they give us a chance to sell our Manotsuru. I think sake is definitely on the rise, and we are seeing it as a company. We are getting more sales, more exports and imports, but for the most part, we are really a good company.”
The Manotsuru brand has many variations, including Junmai Ginjo Nigori, Nama-chozo Sake, and dry Onikoroshi (Demon Slayer). Obata Brewery’s website is https://www.obata-shuzo.com/en/.
Kodama Brewing
Eiko Kodama of Kodama Brewing (L) and Linda Tetrault of Floating World (R)
Sake of the Kodama Brewery (Akita Prefecture) is imported by the Floating World. According to the company's Linda Tetrault, they began importing Kodama’s sake 15 years ago. “Sake is definitely becoming more popular in the U.S., and people are looking for better sake all the time, so I think the market is growing," she said.
The company and Kodama Brewing first met at a trader's place in New York. After tasting Kodama Brewing's sake, Tetrault and her colleagues liked the taste so much that they decided to carry Kodama’s sake.
Kodama Brewing's main brand is "Taiheizan.” “Sake is the Taiheizan, the best of the world,” smiles Eiko Kodama, Vice President and head of Global Marketing of the Kodama Brewery.
Akita is one of the best rice-producing regions, and several varieties of Akita sake rice are grown. Akita is a place where sake consumption is high, and sake is often drunk among the people in Akita. We make sake for people who love sake which is nurtured in such a culture," says Kodama.
Kodama Brewery began exporting more than 20 years ago when its junmai daiginjo won first place in an overseas competition. Since then, the company has won numerous awards every year. Founded in 1879, the company originally produced soy sauce and miso, but the second generation began brewing sake. The company still makes soy sauce and miso, and there are fewer than 10 brewing companies in Japan that make soy sauce, miso, and sake.
Currently, Kodama's husband, Shinichiro Kodama, has been the fifth President of the company. While Eiko Kodama was studying in the U.S., she met her future husband Shinichiro, who was studying there as a graduate student. Their grown-up son has already begun training in sake brewing, and the next generation is in good hands. “Now that I have finished raising my son, so I am helping the company to go abroad. I never thought about what I’m doing now,” Kodama said. Kodama Brewery's website is https://www.kodamajozo.co.jp/en/.
Kishu Kumano Distillery & Asaka Distillery
Sara Guterbock of MK Trading talks about single malt whiskies from Kishu Wakayaka and Fukushima.
MK Trading's Sara Guterbock introduced the "Kumano" brand single malt whisky from the Kishu Kumano Distillery, sake from the Sasanokawa Brewery, and the "Yamazakura Sasakawa" single malt whisky from the Asaka Distillery, which is operated under the Sasanokawa Brewery.
Kumano is located in Wakayama Prefecture and Asaka in Fukushima Prefecture, both of which have warm summers and cold winters, and this climate affects the aging of the whiskies. Both whiskies are aged for three years, but they taste older, Guterbock explained.
She said, “With sake, all Japanese beverages are growing very rapidly, especially, nihonshu is growing very quickly. Japanese whiskey has also grown very quickly in these years. Japanese whiskey is the best whiskey in the world, and we are excited about more people trying out our whiskey.” These whiskies are being delivered to the Chicago area by the Breakthrough Beverage Group, she added.
. Kishu Kumano Distillery’s website: https://kishukumano-distillery.com/en/
. Asaka Distillery’s website: https://www.sasanokawa.co.jp/asaka-distillery-en/
CHOYA’S Umeshu
Katsuhisa Suzuki of CHOYA USA (L) introduces Uji Gren Tea Umeshu.
CHOYA, famous for its Umeshu (plum wine), introduced Uji Green Tea Umeshu. This product uses the company's cold-brew technique to produce an aromatic green tea flavor.
According to Katsuhisa Suzuki of the company, CHOYA is headquartered in Habikino City, Osaka Prefecture, and has its main factory in Igano, Mie Prefecture, near Wakayama which is famous for ume fruit production. This year marks the 110th anniversary of the company's founding, he said. The most important factors in preserving the taste of a long-established company, Suzuki says, are the quality and quantity of the ingredients, and the fact that they do not cut corners when it comes to maturing.
The new product, Uji Green Tea Umeshu, is a collaboration of Kyoto's Uji green tea and CHOYA's Umeshu, which is aged slowly at a lower temperature using a cold-brewing technique. Most CHOYA's Umeshu products have an alcohol content of 14% to 15%, while Uji Green Tea Umeshu is 7.5%.
CHOYA USA’s website: https://choyausa.com/.
Yamaki USA
Aiko Goto of Yamaki USA explains Yamaki’s dashi products.
Speaking of dried bonito flakes, everyone remembers “Yamaki Hana-Katsuo.” The Yamaki USA introduced Shiro Dashi, Bonito flakes, dashi packets, and more.
According to Aiko Goto, the company's Sales and Marketing Manager, powdered dashi packets and the final production of dried bonito flakes are manufactured at a factory in Oregon, while highly processed items such as Shiro Dashi are manufactured in Japan and imported to the United States.
The dashi packets contain dried bonito and kelp, and good dashi can be obtained simply by adding these packets to a pot. The Shiro Dashi, which is a liquid type, is easy to use by diluting it to make one’s preferred taste. So, the sale of Shiro Dashi has grown rapidly both in Japan and the U.S.
The sushi roll ingredients served as a tasting were chicken marinated in Shiro Dashi, so it is a versatile seasoning and can be used as a dressing material. The sushi rolls were rolled over fine dried bonito flakes, introducing a new way to eat sushi using dried bonito flakes as a wrapping ingredient. The website is https://yamakiusa.com/.
Shiitake Umami Powder by Sugimoto Shoten
Representative Takashi talks about the power of shiitake mushroom powder.
Sugimoto Shoten, a wholesaler specializing in dried shiitake mushrooms in Takachiho-go, Miyazaki Prefecture, introduced dried shiitake mushrooms and Kyushu-grown, authentic shiitake mushroom powder. Some dried shiitake mushrooms are thick and bigger than seven centimeters in diameter, but Representative Takashi Ikezawa’s focus was on "Kyushu-produced, authentic shiitake mushroom powder.”
According to Ikezawa, dried shiitake mushrooms contain guanylic acid, the richest umami component among vegetables, and figures show that when combined with glutamic acid and inosinic acid contained in food, the umami taste is amplified many times over.
When dried shiitake mushrooms are ground into powder, they lose their shiitake mushroom smell and can easily be sprinkled or mixed into foods as a natural umami powder. Currently, the product is being marketed mainly in New York under the name Umami Powder, but it is already in a few restaurants in Chicago. Umami Powder is not limited to use as a Japanese seasoning but is focused on non-Japanese restaurants. Sugimoto Shoten’s website is https://sugimoto.co/en/.
Dashi Specialty Store “Okume”
Shohei Miyajima introduces a pouch of six different kinds of dashi, powdered and blended.
Dashi Okume is the first dashi specialty store in the U.S. It is based on Okume Shohten, a wholesaler established in 1871, and offers more than 30 kinds of umami ingredients such as fish, kelp, surume, scallops, tomatoes, etc. for making various blends of dashi.
Introduced at the event was a pouch of six different kinds of dashi, powdered and blended together, and it certainly gave a sense of the thickness of the dashi. According to Shohei Miyajima, General Manager of distributor Kano USA, the word "umami" is now well known in the US, and many people know that it comes from dashi, and many chefs are creating new dishes while incorporating Japanese culture with them. The website is https://okume.us/.
Amazing Soy Meat by Tofu Producer
Masaya Kobayashi of Somenoya introduces soy meat products.
Masaya Kobayashi of Somenoya introduced SoMeat made from soybeans. There are three types of SoMeat: aburi-yaki, ginger-yaki, and bulgogi, and the texture of the SoMeat is different according to the flavor. The ginger yaki, for example, is tender and very similar to pork ginger yaki. Visitors who tasted the SoMeat voiced comments such as "Very good," "Good texture," and so on. These SoMeat products are in pouches and can be eaten immediately by heating them in hot water.
Somenoya is a tofu producer in Ibaraki Prefecture that does mobile sales in the Kanto area. In addition to mobile sales, they are also manufacturing and selling soybean meat for the global environment.
Somenoya has been looking for a wholesaler to help them enter the U.S. market. This time they exhibited through JETRO. After seeing the good response from the visitors, Kobayashi said, "Honestly, I am glad to come here from Tokyo.”
Somenoya's website is https://www.somenoya.com/english2/index_english2.html/.
● Information about all the exhibitors is available at https://www.jpplausa.com/sakechi/.