Latest news with #Gurunavi
a day ago
- Business
A Love of Ramen Unites Japanese of All Generations
A survey conducted by the restaurant information website Gurunavi of its users found that 85.1% of the respondents either 'like' or 'somewhat like' ramen, reflecting the widespread popularity of the dish in Japan. Women in their thirties and men in their fifties expressed the strongest support for ramen, at the level of 96%. The survey was carried out in mid-June, with responses from 1,300 individuals, aged 20 to 69. The survey also revealed that ramen is a regular treat for many, with 49.6% of the respondents saying that they have it at least once a month. Men in their fifties are particularly fond of treating themselves to ramen, with more than 60% enjoying at least one bowl a month. When asked about the appropriate price for an ordinary bowl of ramen, the two most common responses were '¥800-¥899' and '¥700-¥799,' cited by 31.5% and 24.8% of the respondents, respectively. Overall, 90% of all survey participants believed that a bowl of ramen should cost less than ¥1,000. However, respondents in their twenties showed a greater willingness to pay higher prices, with 19.7% willing to spend over ¥1,000 for a bowl. When asked about the maximum they would spend on a bowl of ramen, 57.7% of all respondents said '¥1,000.' However, the trend among those in their twenties was quite different, with 58.4% saying they were willing to pay more than ¥1,000. The results show that for the younger generation ramen is viewed as a dish worth spending money on, rather than just a cheap and convenient meal. (Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)
Korea Herald
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
In Japan, calorie-busting ‘sinful gourmet foods' taking taste buds by storm
TOKYO (Japan News/ANN) -– Heavily seasoned "sinful gourmet foods" that are high in calories and fat content and can never be called healthy have recently become popular, and these delectable guilty pleasures have often been found not only on restaurant menus, but also in corporate product promotions, manga and personal social media posts. On a recent day, Naoki Nomura, 44, the general manager of Meat & Cheese Forne, an Italian restaurant in Tokyo's Nakameguro district, asked me if I would like some cheese on top of a plate of steaming hot pasta. Nomura then placed a round piece of burrata cheese on the pasta and slit it open with kitchen scissors, and melted cheese flowed out like lava. The cheese went perfectly with the spicy tomato-flavored pasta and salty prosciutto, making the dish rich, smooth, distinctive and exquisite. A limited time variation of the Volcano Pasta, one of the restaurant's signature dishes, was offered until the end of June. The restaurant introduced the pasta on social media as the "taste of sin." The dish had more than 2,000 calories, but was popular especially among women who wanted to eat without worrying about their health once in a while or on a "cheat day," a scheduled break in a diet. "The pasta may stimulate an emotional conflict as you want to eat something delicious while, at the same time, you are also worried about what happens later," Nomura said. According to Emi Yamamoto, who analyzes food trends at Gurunavi, a Tokyo-based company that lists restaurant and other related information online, "sinful gourmet foods" refers to dishes that evoke feelings of sin or guilt while providing a sense of gustatory satisfaction. Since they often feature plenty of high-calorie ingredients like meat and cheese, they also are called "high-calorie gourmet" or "guilty gourmet." Menus with names that include the word haitoku, which literally means "immorality" in Japanese, began to appear more frequently one Gurunavi's restaurant information website around the autumn of 2021, with the number of restaurants offering such dishes increasing each year. A survey of 1,000 people in their 20s to 60s found that about 60 percent of them had tried guilty gourmet fare, with 45 percent of them saying they ate such dishes as they wanted to enjoy eating meals. Thirty-five percent said they ate the food to help relieve mental stress. "It may be an indication that people became weary of self-restraint during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It could have been a backlash to health consciousness, too," Yamamoto said. "Also, the foods' extravagant appearance that looks good in photos appeals to young people who use social media a lot. Sinful foods are no longer a passing fad. They have become established as a genre of cuisine." Spreading beyond restaurants Marudai Food jumped on board the trend in promoting its sausages. The company garnered an unexpected response when it posted a recipe on X for a late-night meal made with instant ramen, cheese, milk and its Kunseiya-brand sausages in autumn last year. The sinful Kunseiya carbonara ramen has about 1,050 calories. "Dokagui Daisuki! Mochizuki-san" ("I Love Dokagui! Mochizuki-san") is a manga series created by Kamome Maruyono and published by Hakusensha. In the manga, Mochizuki-san, the protagonist, relentlessly eats a lot of rich, sinful foods. The ways Mochizuki-san experiences euphoria from the rapid rise in blood sugar as the result of eating are depicted with black humor. Dokagui means "binge eating." The manga quickly gained popularity as soon as the serialization started in May last year, leading to Hakusensha's collaborations with other companies, including Seven-Eleven Japan Co., which released bento box meals themed around the manga. "The protagonist's pursuit of her own happiness through relentless eating in a stressful society may have resonated with readers," said Yuta Yoshinaga, an editor in charge of the manga. Photos and videos of individuals cooking sinful gourmet dishes or eating them at restaurants are popular on social media, too. Cooking expert Ryuji, author of "Bazu Reshipi: Mayonaka-no Haitoku Meshi" (Buzz-recipe: Midnight sinful meals), published by Fusosha Publishing, also shares many recipes for sinful gourmet dishes on his YouTube channel, which has more than 5.25 million subscribers. "In today's society, where people pursue safety and comfort, there are few opportunities in which they face danger, fear or something unfamiliar in their daily lives. They may be creating 'pseudo danger' by eating excessively high-calorie and unhealthy foods and enjoying the thrill of tasting them," said Hideki Kiyoshima, a professor emeritus at Kindai University. "Eating the dishes brings them not only satisfaction but also a sense of accomplishment," the expert on modern culture said. OK once in a while According to Terue Kawabata, vice president of Kagawa Nutrition University and an expert in lipid nutrition, the recommended calorie intake per meal for women is about 600 calories, meaning having a meal of more than 1,500 calories obliges them to reduce their recommended intake by 900 calories in other meals. There is no need to completely abstain from rice to do so, for instance. You can offset the excess calorie intake without difficulty by having less sweets, soft drinks or alcohol compared to usual for about one to two weeks. Since high-fat dishes can take three to four hours to digest, it is best to avoid them before bedtime. Consuming fiber-rich vegetables with the dishes can help prevent overeating and slow down fat absorption. You can eat vegetables in another meal on the same day when it is difficult to eat them with high-fat dishes.
Yomiuri Shimbun
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Guilty Pleasures: Calorie-Busting ‘Sinful Gourmet Foods' Taking Taste Buds by Storm
Heavily seasoned 'sinful gourmet foods' that are high in calories and fat content and can never be called healthy have recently become popular, and these delectable guilty pleasures have often been found not only on restaurant menus, but also in corporate product promotions, manga and personal social media a recent day, Naoki Nomura, 44, the general manager of Meat & Cheese Forne, an Italian restaurant in Tokyo's Nakameguro district, asked me if I would like some cheese on top of a plate of steaming hot pasta. Nomura then placed a round piece of burrata cheese on the pasta and slit it open with kitchen scissors, and melted cheese flowed out like lava. The cheese went perfectly with the spicy tomato-flavored pasta and salty prosciutto, making the dish rich, smooth, distinctive and exquisite. A limited time variation of the Volcano Pasta, one of the restaurant's signature dishes, was offered until the end of June. The restaurant introduced the pasta on social media as the 'taste of sin.' The dish had more than 2,000 calories, but was popular especially among women who wanted to eat without worrying about their health once in a while or on a 'cheat day,' a scheduled break in a diet. 'The pasta may stimulate an emotional conflict as you want to eat something delicious while, at the same time, you are also worried about what happens later,' Nomura said. According to Emi Yamamoto, who analyzes food trends at Gurunavi, Inc., a Tokyo-based company that lists restaurant and other related information online, 'sinful gourmet foods' refers to dishes that evoke feelings of sin or guilt while providing a sense of gustatory satisfaction. Since they often feature plenty of high-calorie ingredients like meat and cheese, they also are called 'high-calorie gourmet' or 'guilty gourmet.' Menus with names that include the word haitoku, which literally means 'immorality' in Japanese, began to appear more frequently one Gurunavi's restaurant information website around the autumn of 2021, with the number of restaurants offering such dishes increasing each year. A survey of 1,000 people in their 20s to 60s found that about 60% of them had tried guilty gourmet fare, with 45% of them saying they ate such dishes as they wanted to enjoy eating meals. Thirty-five percent said they ate the food to help relieve mental stress. 'It may be an indication that people became weary of self-restraint during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It could have been a backlash to health consciousness, too,' Yamamoto said. 'Also, the foods' extravagant appearance that looks good in photos appeals to young people who use social media a lot. Sinful foods are no longer a passing fad. They have become established as a genre of cuisine.' Spreading beyond restaurantsMarudai Food Co. jumped on board the trend in promoting its sausages. The company garnered an unexpected response when it posted a recipe on X for a late-night meal made with instant ramen, cheese, milk and its Kunseiya-brand sausages in autumn last year. The sinful Kunseiya carbonara ramen has about 1,050 calories. 'Dokagui Daisuki! Mochizuki-san' ('I Love Dokagui! Mochizuki-san') is a manga series created by Kamome Maruyono and published by Hakusensha. In the manga, Mochizuki-san, the protagonist, relentlessly eats a lot of rich, sinful foods. The ways Mochizuki-san experiences euphoria from the rapid rise in blood sugar as the result of eating are depicted with black humor. Dokagui means 'binge eating.' The manga quickly gained popularity as soon as the serialization started in May last year, leading to Hakusensha's collaborations with other companies, including Seven-Eleven Japan Co., which released bento box meals themed around the manga. 'The protagonist's pursuit of her own happiness through relentless eating in a stressful society may have resonated with readers,' said Yuta Yoshinaga, an editor in charge of the manga. Photos and videos of individuals cooking sinful gourmet dishes or eating them at restaurants are popular on social media, too. Cooking expert Ryuji, author of 'Bazu Reshipi: Mayonaka-no Haitoku Meshi' (Buzz-recipe: Midnight sinful meals), published by Fusosha Publishing Inc., also shares many recipes for sinful gourmet dishes on his YouTube channel, which has more than 5.25 million subscribers. 'In today's society, where people pursue safety and comfort, there are few opportunities in which they face danger, fear or something unfamiliar in their daily lives. They may be creating 'pseudo danger' by eating excessively high-calorie and unhealthy foods and enjoying the thrill of tasting them,' said Hideki Kiyoshima, a professor emeritus at Kindai University. 'Eating the dishes brings them not only satisfaction but also a sense of accomplishment,' the expert on modern culture said. OK once in a while According to Terue Kawabata, vice president of Kagawa Nutrition University and an expert in lipid nutrition, the recommended calorie intake per meal for women is about 600 calories, meaning having a meal of more than 1,500 calories obliges them to reduce their recommended intake by 900 calories in other meals. There is no need to completely abstain from rice to do so, for instance. You can offset the excess calorie intake without difficulty by having less sweets, soft drinks or alcohol compared to usual for about one to two weeks. Since high-fat dishes can take three to four hours to digest, it is best to avoid them before bedtime. Consuming fiber-rich vegetables with the dishes can help prevent overeating and slow down fat absorption. You can eat vegetables in another meal on the same day when it is difficult to eat them with high-fat dishes. 'Considering the balance of calorie intake, it may be better to enjoy sinful gourmet meals once every one to two weeks,' Kawabata said.
27-04-2025
- Business
Survey Finds Strong Preference for Domestically Produced Food Among Japanese Shoppers
The online Japanese gourmet and restaurant guide Gurunavi conducted a survey on food consumption in mid-February, targeting its users. The results show that monthly spending on rice, meat, and vegetables increased by more than ¥400 compared with the previous year. Concerning preferences for foods produced in Japan, rice stands out in particular, with 77.6% of the respondents reporting that they always purchase domestically produced rice, and the percentage increases to around 90% when those who purchase it whenever possible are included. Over half of the respondents also said that they always purchase domestically produced dairy products and eggs. In the case of seafood, meat, and fruit, around 30% of the respondents said that they don't insist on purchasing domestic products, but 40% said that they purchase domestic products whenever possible. Amid rising food prices, 60% of the respondents said that they often feel it is difficult to stick to domestic products when it comes to rice and vegetables. Over 20% of those surveyed said that they never felt that way with regard to beans and bean products; whereas for nearly all other products, people responded that they either often or sometimes find it difficult to buy domestic products. Shoppers tend to place emphasis on the freshness and nutritional balance of products, as well as being able to use up all the ingredients they purchase, while placing less emphasis on seasonality and choosing locally produced items. (Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)
