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When it comes to Instagrammable food, it’s form over flavor. It doesn’t matter if the food tastes good or not; if it’s pretty on the plate (before you dive in, of course), it’s going up on the ‘Gram.
While ordinary food artfully arranged like high cuisine is also Instagram-worthy, as a chef, the most sure-fire way to get your food shared on social media is to make it unique, like pancakes on a stick; cute, like food shaped into characters; or colorful, like rainbow grilled cheese.
That’s why Kenko, a company that provides packaged foodstuffs to the Japanese food-service industry, created their new “Ocean Blue” dressing: so that restaurants can produce colorful, beautiful, Instagram-worthy plates.
But not at the expense of personal health! Ocean Blue’s blue color comes naturally from Spirulina, which is a powder formed from a certain type of algae that is packed with protein, antioxidants, and vitamins. The dressing also contains collagen, which helps keep skin and joints young, and it’s oil-free, meaning it’s low-fat.
According to Kenko, this healthy, blue dressing can be used in any number of dishes: as a salad dressing, as a pickling agent, with noodles, as a component in sauces, and even on desserts. It’s flavored with grapefruit, which gives it a bite of acidity and a tang of fruitiness that should complement any dish.
If you’re a color nut like me, you’re probably wondering, “Where can I get it?!”, but sadly Ocean Blue doesn’t seem to be available for general purchase by consumers, at least not at your local grocery store. You can always pretend to own a restaurant and order a case from their online shop, though, where it sells for 502 yen for a 500-milliliter bottle.
In any case, you might find a lot more blue foods at restaurants in Japan over the next few months, as chefs begin to experiment with new menus using this new “superfood” dressing.
Source: PR Times via Netlab
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- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2018/07/17/new-bright-blue-salad-dressing-now-available-promises-instagram-worthy-restaurant-dishes/
10 Comments
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JonathanJo
Looks more like a lavatory disinfectant bottle.
Madden
Japanese people I know always look in disgust when they see other flavored American sweets like cupcakes and cookies with odd colored frosting, there also seems to be a rumor about "Americans eating that weird blue food". I cannot see this dressing being popular at all with the locals and will probably be discontinued right away so it's best to buy it now if you're interested!
Pukey2
I disagree with the above poster. Have you seen the colours of those ice shavings in Japan - bright blue, bright green (and not to mention the amount of sugar).
I'd give the dressing a try if it didn't have collagen. I mean, collagen? Why?
Pukey2
As long as the colouring is natural, as it seems to be in this case. Most colouring in Japanese food is anything but natural.
bass4funk
As if the Japanese don’t use food coloring themselves. It’s just stupid. You think fish cakes are naturally pink or ginger? There are many foods that I find off putting visually, but taste wise, it doesn’t change anything. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Anyway, I also agree the blue dressing is just something might not catch on.
Raw Beer
I had a very negative first impression when I saw the blue color; it just doesn't go with salad. But considering the color is natural, why not. ガリガリソーダ , which is quite popular with kids, has the same phycocyanin color from Spirulina. If it wasn't oil free, I would definitely buy it.
wanderlust
As a student, I once cooked a dinner with blue-dyed potatoes. Although the taste was fine, there was just something not quite right about them, which made it hard to eat them.
Luddite
It's probably about as nice as the Blue Drink people in Sunderland buy for their kids.
vistula
@wanderlust: it is ingrained in our brain to think that blue colored foods must be abnormal or even poisonous, hence unappetizing, as quoted here "A million years ago, when our earliest ancestors were foraging for food, blue, purple and black were "color warning signs" of potentially lethal food." Link to the article: https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-the-body/color-and-appetite-matters