Kanten – A traditional health food
Kanten is a food product made from seaweed. Because adding water produces a jelly at room temperature, it was historically an important ingredient in Japanese recipes, especially desserts. It’s now prized as a health food, vegetarian and rich in fiber. The traditional way of making kanten is still used in the Suwa area of Nagano. Local daily temperature variations enable repeated natural freezing and drying. It takes about two weeks to produce kanten famed for its pleasing texture.
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Kanten is a food product made from seaweed. Because adding water produces a jelly at room temperature, it was historically an important ingredient in Japanese recipes, especially desserts. It’s now prized as a health food, vegetarian and rich in fiber. The traditional way of making kanten is still used in the Suwa area of Nagano. Local daily temperature variations enable repeated natural freezing and drying. It takes about two weeks to produce kanten famed for its pleasing texture.
VIDEO BY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPAN
Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe
Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net
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Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:12 Among the many ingredients used in Japanese cuisine
00:15 is an important one you may not have heard of.
00:18 Kanten.
00:20 It's in every dish you see here.
00:22 Kanten, or agar jelly, is made from various kinds of seaweed.
00:29 [Music]
00:33 Adding water produces a colourless, transparent jelly.
00:37 Very low in calories, kanten is rich in dietary fibre.
00:44 It has health benefits that appeal to people of all ages.
00:51 I eat it because it's good for me.
00:55 It's a very safe food.
00:59 Since it contains no animal products, kanten is popular with vegetarians too.
01:05 It also forms the base of many traditional Japanese desserts.
01:11 This is one of the most famous.
01:15 Your can is composed of kanten and azuki beans.
01:20 To make it, kanten is dissolved in boiling water.
01:27 Azuki bean powder is added and the mixture stirred well.
01:31 Liquid kanten becomes solid at temperatures below 38 degrees Celsius.
01:40 This property of staying solid at room temperature
01:43 historically made it a main ingredient in Japanese confectionery, or wagashi.
01:48 Kanten's natural transparency inspires creativity.
01:56 Easy to work with, kanten made it simple to add beauty to wagashi.
02:01 Kanten was invented about 400 years ago.
02:07 Here in the Suwa area of Nagano, they still produce it in the traditional way.
02:12 Gomi Tokuo and his son Akimitsu come from a family that's been making kanten for generations.
02:23 We rarely have cloudy or snowy weather around here.
02:26 Most of the time it's fine and sunny.
02:29 That's why it's so good for making kanten.
02:33 The process begins with boiling seaweed for several hours to extract its essence.
02:39 The resulting liquid is cooled and solidifies into a gel.
02:48 Cut into blocks, the gel is dried in the sun.
02:52 Winter temperatures here stay above 10 degrees in the day,
02:57 but fall to nearly minus 10 at night.
03:00 After two nights' exposure, the kanten is frozen all the way through.
03:05 The frozen blocks are now left out in the sun for about two weeks to slowly thaw.
03:14 The freezing is done naturally, and so is the thawing and drying.
03:18 Everything is natural.
03:20 No refrigeration is needed.
03:24 It's all a result of this area's unique natural environment.
03:27 This slow, natural drying preserves all of kanten's special properties.
03:35 The kanten is a natural food.
03:39 The result is a pleasing texture that enhances many foods.
03:44 The painstakingly made natural kanten comes into its own on special occasions in this area.
03:51 Today, I think the texture was perfect.
03:58 We are very happy to have been able to make kanten.
04:04 I think the texture was perfect.
04:07 We are proud that kanten is our local specialty.
04:12 I hope we'll always keep making it here in Suwa.
04:16 A traditional ingredient produced by taking advantage of the natural environment.
04:23 Kanten is more popular than ever today, making many foods healthier and more appetizing.
04:31 Thank you for watching.
04:36 Please subscribe.