By YANG Qiuyue

The “Coriander Craze” that sprang up in Japan last year gave birth to a lot of magical new coriander products, such as coriander hot pot, coriander Pretz, coriander chocolate, coriander bath products, and etc., However in this year, Japanese foodies have found something new -- Sichuan peppercorn, the main character in Sichuan cuisine.

Data from Japanese food websites and related companies have exposed the country’s love for Sichuan peppercorn. According to the Nikkei China Website recently, the statistics on Japanese food navigation website GURUNAVI demonstrate that the number of restaurant menus with the keywords “Sichuan peppercorn” and “spicy” is 2.2 times that of last year. Also, “spicy dishes” made with Sichuan peppercorn were rated the second best Japanese specialty of 2018. Japan’s news agency Jiji Press also reported that sales of Sichuan peppercorn flavoured product have increased rapidly this year, with sales of Sichuan peppercorn related products made by House Foods Corporation up more than 50 percent from April to August compared with the same period last year.

Japanese food companies and catering enterprises have launched a number of Sichuan peppercorn related products to satisfy Japanese consumers who are addicted to the spicy and numbing taste of Sichuan peppercorn.

Peppercorn-flavoured soup and seasonings are the most common products. POKKA SAPPORO Food & Beverage introduced the “Spiciest hot pot soup”, whose ingredient combines nine spices, such as Sichuan peppercorn and chilies, emphasizing the special taste of “numbing, aromatic and spicy”. Famous food companies began to sell peppercorn-flavoured spicy chicken soup; the producer of edible oil, J-oil MILLS, has launched a “rich flavoured peppercorn oil”; Asahi foods, which is familiar to Chinese consumers, also launched a peppercorn-flavoured snack named “Devil Capsicum”.

Spicy food, such as Sichuan peppercorn, is the most popular among young women, opening up opportunities for traditional food and beverage companies that want to tap into this demographic.”

Nakamura House, a 116-year-old Japanese food company, has begun using Sichuan peppercorn in its innovative dishes and condiments to appeal to younger consumers. Starting in late October this year, at Manna, a restaurant of Nakamura in Shinjuku, Tokyo, a combination of “traditional Indian curry and Mapo Tofu” has been served to the consumers. The dish is not cheap with the price of around 135 yuan, but it can sell more than 30 servings a day, according to restaurant staff.

In addition to the dishes, Nakamura House also takes the needs of consumers who want to cook “peppercorn-flavoured” dishes at home into consideration. The company has begun testing to sell a household seasoning called “edible spicy oil” in Tokyo and plans to expand the market of it to supermarkets all over Japan in February 2019. Previously, this kind of spicy oil with Sichuan peppercorn” was rare in Japan.

It may seem that the craze for Sichuan peppercorn is against the taste of traditional Japanese cuisine, but in fact, the numbing taste of Sichuan peppercorn is familiar to the Japanese.

Sichuan food can rank among the Japanese favourite Chinese food. Nakajima, a Japanese freelance journalist who had studied in China, said of the country’s favourite Chinese food, “even in rural Japan, there are not many Japanese who have never eaten Mapo Tofu or Braised Shrimp.”

The spiciness of Sichuan peppercorn has been increasingly accepted, with the popularity of more spicy dishes such as Malaxiangguo (spicy pots - wet cooked) and Malaganguo (spicy pots - dry cooked) in overseas markets. In 2015, Japanese dairy company Koiwaimilk and Kirin Beer jointly launched a Sichuan Mapo-flavoured cheese. Combining the spicy flavor of Sichuan peppercorn, the cheese is said to be suitable as wine snacks.

New food trends with coriander or Sichuan peppercorns have sprung up in Japan thanks to social media. Food navigation or rating sites promote popular foods with strong flavours in order to generate buzz and guide trends, while young people who like to share their lifestyles on social media are more likely to explore new flavours. In the food business, there is a clear inclination towards distinctive tastes that break the traditional norm.