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Six surprises in the Japanese supermarket
Little Tokyo |August 29, 2022
Bento boxes for your lunch break, the freshest fish and delicacies that you won't find anywhere else in Germany: welcome to "Shochiku"!
Feeling lost? Doesn't necessarily sound desirable when it comes to most of our lives. In the middle of Düsseldorf, however, this very circumstance is exceptionally a real pleasure - in the Japanese supermarket "Shochiku", one of several on Immermannstraße. The special thing about it: In the store in "Little Tokyo", you will not only find a range of products that you won't find almost anywhere else in Europe. Rather, it's original goods that the owners import directly from Japan several times a week. The fun: a little guesswork accompanies the selection of noodles, sauces and sweets, for example. Because - keyword original goods - the descriptions on the packaging are in Japanese. Only the small print tells you what's in your shopping basket. But that's exactly what makes it so appealing, isn't it?
Potatoes for in between
Grilled sausages, grilled chicken and grilled sweet potatoes? While you often enjoy the first two dishes mentioned crispy and tender at stalls in supermarket parking lots, you will get to know the vegetable in a completely new way with "shochiku". Baked on a kind of hot stone, the Japanese sweet potato is much smaller than the one we are used to and tastes sweet and delicate. According to a market employee, many customers enjoy the vegetable (without the skin) as a snack. Sound like something you'd like to try? You'll pay around five euros for this unusual appetizer. If your taste buds prefer something familiar - or at least better known - choose one of the many bento boxes, i.e. a (plastic) bowl with a portion of rice, fish or meat (such as the popular kaarage) and various vegetables. Perfect for lunch in the office or park around the corner and so carefully arranged that the dishes seem almost too good to eat for their appearance alone.
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Pouring pure (or better: polished) wine
Sake as far as the eye can see: a shelf several meters long full of rice wine awaits you in the Japanese supermarket at Immermannstraße 15. You're not sure which bottle to choose from the large selection, which is also imported entirely from Japan? No problem: there are several varieties in a fridge for you to try for free. Incidentally, a dry, well-chilled wine such as "Harunasan Reihou" for around 29 euros goes well with sushi or sashimi. If you are wondering what the term "Junmai Daiginjo" on the label stands for: it indicates how intensively the rice was polished (very important!), how slowly the fermentation took place at low temperatures and how much care was taken during the brewing process. The range of liquid specialties is rounded off by beers such as the popular "Kirin Ichiban" brand, several types of gin and Ramune lemonade from Kobe, Japan.
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Rare sweets
Are you hesitant to try products that are unfamiliar to you? No problem, the "Shochiku" range also makes it possible to try them out - for example with sweets that are also familiar to German customers. For example, the chocolate-covered wafer strips from "Kit-Kat" are available on site in matcha, melon or strawberry flavors! Another very popular snack in Japan are the soft chewy sweets ("jelly") - made from konjac root powder, among other things. Try the orange, grape and peach varieties or, if you fancy something a little more exotic, nutmeg. A bag costs around 3.50 euros. Your mouth is already watering? Tourists who are unfortunately not in Düsseldorf all the time can also enjoy the grocery store's own online store.
Ramen, only different
No visit to a Japanese supermarket is complete without rows of shelves full of - Ramen! While the soup experienced a real hype a few years ago, especially in the dry version (you will remember when it was available at every second stall), the "Kubota" brand's offering is a meal with fresh noodles! Available in miso, tonkotsu (broth) and soy flavors, you can get the vegan dish for around four euros. There is also an extensive selection of instant variations in cups or sachets, for example with curry, mildly sweet shoyu or miso flavoring. A little insider tip on the side, If you want to add an extra dose of spice to your soup: the soy sauce powder "Nihonichi Spice" (around seven euros) tastes fantastic. It's the first thing we reach for every time we go shopping.
As fresh as just caught
Boil, bake, fry or poach? Absolutely not the first choice in Japan when it comes to preparing fish. The Japanese value food in its most original form - and enjoy salmon, tuna & co. preferably raw. At "Shochiku", where the Japanese community in Düsseldorf also does their shopping, you can get a large selection of sashimi-quality fish; the owners of the store buy yellowtail mackerel, fatty tuna and red sea bream from Japan every week. Speaking of fish: onigri, Japanese rice dumplings in the shape of a pyramid, are traditionally served with umeboshi plum, but also with pear, pumpkin and tuna. Eating the ingredients wrapped in roasted nori sheets turns out to be a bit of a challenge. But be sure to try it for yourself!
Tofu meets vegetables
Tender tofu, the most tender tofu, tofu from Japan: the natural product made from soybeans, such as the "Ken-Chan" variety (around four euros), is particularly creamy. On the same shelf you will find the right vegetables, such as radishes or yams, which are rather foreign to us and which the Japanese like to eat raw, once peeled, grated or on rice with soy sauce. Do you like the focus of Japanese cuisine on plant-based food anyway? Then try the very intense-tasting shimeji mushroom (around 2.50 euros) or the common rattle mushroom (around five euros), which is one of Japan's most important edible mushrooms.
Cover picture: Düsseldorf Tourismus
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