Japan's Dish Of The Year Is Frozen Food And We're Reminded Of Lockdown Days

Every time someone talks about the “dish of the year,” what immediately comes to mind is a plate of a hot meal garnished beautifully. Isn’t it? But this year, Japan’s dish of the year was a bit different. The Gurunavi Research Institute, which has a popular website, helps people search for the best restaurants in Japan. It recently unveiled Japan’s dish of the year, and the crown was given to frozen foods.

Japan’s Dish Of The Year

Every year, the Gurunavi Research Institute names a dish as Japan’s dish of the year. The company this year named “frozen food” as its dish of the year. The prize intends to highlight the developing trends in the country. The winning dish crowned as Japan’s dish of the year actually reflects the social climate of Japan in 2022. It spoke about how COVID-19 impacted the lives of people and their eating habits.

The institute emphasised that the pandemic actually compelled restaurants to flash freeze their dishes. This was done to meet the demand for takeout that had increased. The concept of flash freezing helped all the chefs keep the integrity of their dish intact, which helped the most for takeout.

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Frozen Food Is The Future

According to Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, the amount of money spent per family on frozen foods increased by 20% between 2019 and 2021. This is because the diversity of frozen foods has increased in the country. There were many companies that extended their frozen food category. There were installations of frozen food vending machines across the country.

Many locations saw grocery chain stores, which are known for frozen foods. Many people moved towards frozen foods to limit the use of ingredients and stop food waste. The institute predicted that Japan’s dish of the year would soon become an important part of Japanese culture.