Japan's nabe market grows

 The sour economy and the trend toward convenient foods are benefiting sales of nabe, a traditional Japanese stew featuring seafood.

"Because of the bad economy, the trend of eating at home is becoming strong, and nabe has been spotlighted as a food that can be cooked easily at home," said Hiroyuki Horiwaki, who's in charge of nabe products at Fukuoka-based seasoning and sauce maker Daisho Co. Ltd.

Nabe means "pot" in Japanese, and a stew cooked at the table in an earthenware pot is traditional Japanese winter comfort food. The simplest style is to boil dried kelp in water, add the desired ingredients — leek, Chinese cabbage, cod, tofu and mushrooms are popular — and then dip the cooked ingredients into an individual bowl of ponzu (a mixture of soy, vinegar and citron). It's a simple if somewhat boring taste.

Chanko-nabe, the food that sumo wrestlers eat to gain weight, has chicken broth added to the pot, as well as chicken meat and may include seafood as well. Ishikari-nabe from Hokkaido features salmon in a miso broth. Yose-nabe has a soy flavor and usually contains seafood.

They are all popular because of their stronger flavors and the elimination of the dipping in ponzu. Over the last 15 years a variety of regional styles have caught on nationally, all with stronger and more interesting flavors: motsu-nabe with variety meats, spicy kim-chi nabe and soy-milk nabe have been hits.

At the same time, life has been made easier for home cooks, first by bottled concentrated soup stock, and then by retort packs requiring no dilution. Ehime-based Yamaki and Kobe-based Fujikko are major retort-pack nabe soup makers.

Since the winter of 2008, the market for nabe mixes has broadened with the introduction of several flavors, especially curry-nabe, which became popular nationwide. Osaka-based House Foods introduced a curry nabe soup in 2008, as did many others. Collagen-nabe, made with pigs feet or chicken skin, is popular with young women, as it is supposed to improve skin tone, though scientists refute the claim.

In 2009, continuing the trend of eating at home and saving money, the market was further enlarged with the introduction of new flavors like cheese nabe. Kagome Co. Ltd. of Aichi Prefecture offered a very successful tomato nabe, resembling a simplified cioppino. Adding rice and shredded mozzarella to remaining broth results in a risotto like dish.

"Under this bad economy, we think nabe is becoming more popular as a luxury in place of eating out, because people can eat lots of vegetables, for a healthy lifestyle, and eating with many people surrounding the nabe is fun," said Daisho's Horiwaki.

The company has introduced a line of nabe soup mixes intended especially for seafood. The soups contain various seafood extracts to create a richer flavor than housewives can achieve at home. Its Sengyotei (Fresh Seafood Restaurant) series was first released in August 1999 but has seen sales rise rapidly amidst the nabe boom. Domestic retail sales of the company's nabe-related products were JPY 39.9 billion in 2007; JPY 43 billion in 2008 and an estimated JPY 45.7 billion in 2009. The most popular flavors in are Yose-nabe soup, made with soy sauce; Chanko-nabe soup, with salt taste; and Kani-suki (crab) soup.

The company displays its nabe soups in the fresh produce section of supermarkets, giving shoppers the idea to eat their vegetables as a nabe dish. Daisho's exports, so far consisting mainly of sauces for grilled eel and for ricebowls, are destined for Southeast Asia.

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