Incorporating Japanese influence on menus

Sponsored by Kikkoman

As American menus continue to go global with influences from all over the world, one cuisine keeps rising to the top: Japanese.

Asian is the most ordered ethnic food among consumers in most foodservice segments.^[1] Japanese restaurants—and foods like sushi, teriyaki and tempura—have, of course, been part of the foodservice landscape for decades. But in recent years, the ramen craze helped open the door to a world of traditional Japanese flavors and ingredients.

Ramen and other bowl dishes have been among the fastest-growing examples of Asian cuisine in the U.S., according to Yelp’s 2023 State of the Industry Report. The report found that ramen restaurant openings were up 45% in the year ended in April 2023, compared to the previous year, and openings of noodle concepts were up 40%. In addition, Japanese restaurant openings were up 20% in that time, and sushi restaurant openings rose by 13%.

Now, food trend forecasters are pointing to a phenomenon they’re calling “Japan-adjacency”—operations and menu items that embrace Japanese culinary influences and incorporate them into their menus. The New York Times said it best: “Japanese food is the cuisine all the other cuisines most want to hang out with.”^[2]

The Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa, for example, blends Japanese and Peruvian cuisines in his Nobu restaurants, reflecting a culinary style known as Nikkei cuisine, which is also being championed at Causita (Los Angeles), Kaiyo (San Francisco), and Pacha Nikei (Houston). Meanwhile, leading-edge Restaurants like Ryla (LA) and Ethel’s Fancy are reinventing Japanese culinary ideas in fresh, contemporary ways.

Here's a look at how you can tap into consumers’ love of Japanese flavors.

Bring on the Asian bowls

Research firm Datassential reported that bowls have surged on U.S. menus: By 2020, 35.7% of restaurants offered bowl dishes, up from 29.7% in 2016, according to this Kikkoman infographic. In addition to ramen, other increasingly popular Asian bowl dishes include poke and bibimbap.

Kikkoman can help. The company offers two labor-saving ramen soup mixes—Tonkotsu (pork and chicken flavored) and Miso—that allow any operation to menu consistent, crowd-pleasing ramen with minimal prep and ingredient sourcing. And if you’re looking to add popular poke items, Kikkoman® Poke Sauce makes it easy to add sweet savory umami to fish, seafood, vegetables, and even grilled meat.

Try tempura

Tempura is another traditional Japanese dish that operators can readily incorporate into their menus to evoke the influence of authentic Japanese cuisine, says Chef Mutsuko Soma of Kamonegi.

“Tempura frying is an easy way to introduce Japanese techniques to any dish,” he says. You can make tempura batter in-house, or buy a pre-made dry mix, like Kikkoman® Japanese Style Tempura Batter Mix. “Make sure to keep the batter cold,” says Chef Soma. You can tempura anything, so the possibilities are endless.”

Incorporate Japanese ingredients

Some traditional Japanese ingredients are also growing on restaurant menus in the U.S., including yuzu, often described as a Japanese lime, and shiso, an herb in the mint family that is popular in Japanese cooking.

Add umami to anything

Perhaps no other flavor represents Japanese cuisine more than the umami flavor profile. It can be found in Japanese ingredients and sauces, such as soy sauce, miso, ponzu, and teriyaki.

Soy sauce, in particular, offers an easy way for chefs to incorporate into their menus the umami flavor that customers crave, in addition to offering the on-trend attribute of being a fermented food product. Traditionally brewed Kikkoman® Soy Sauce is brewed and aged for up to six months to achieve its distinctive flavor profile, which also includes sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami components. In fact, traditionally brewed soy sauce such as Kikkoman includes more than 300 flavor and aroma components.

Chef Soma notes that soy sauce also provides a vehicle to reinforce the authenticity of Japanese dishes on the menu.

“Adding soy sauce to nearly any dish will give it a Japanese influence—including any sauce with a base of soy sauce,” he says. “We like to use Kikkoman®️ Poke Sauce in our coffee-marinated salmon poke.”

Chef Soma’s advice about soy sauce comes as research shows the value that consumers place on this condiment.

Trust the brand consumers love

According to a Kikkoman survey^[3], 63% of restaurant patrons surveyed said they can taste the difference between their preferred soy sauce brand and other brands, and more than half (58%) of restaurant patrons surveyed believe that the brand of soy sauce is important when dining out.

In addition, 76% of restaurant patrons surveyed identify Kikkoman®️ Soy Sauce as a premium product, and 87% of restaurant patrons surveyed who are familiar with Kikkoman rate the brand as being high quality. Two-thirds of restaurant patrons—67%—surveyed agree that Kikkoman®️ Soy Sauce tastes better than other soy sauce brands.

In fact, Kikkoman®️ Soy Sauce is the No. 1 soy sauce brand in America^[4]

For more sauce inspiration, recipe ideas, and other information to help you leverage the flavors that Asian sauces can bring to your menu, visit https://kikkomanusa.com/foodservice/.