Season 5 · Episode 2

Japanology Plus mini: Frozen Food

Frozen food is extremely popular in Japan. A supermarket may have a dedicated section with hundreds of frozen items. While pasta is the most popular frozen food, options range from chopped vegetables to sushi. One key to the success of frozen food is flash freezing, which limits damage to food cells during the freezing process, thus preserving taste and texture. Flash freezing is a great way to make food last longer. We review the history of Japanese frozen food and introduce recent innovations.