Food makers turn to plant-based alternatives as seafood prices rise

Japanese food manufacturers are coming up with plant-based alternatives for various seafood products in a move that could widen food options as their supplies are not impacted by poor fish catches.

Kanetetsu Delica Foods in Hyogo Prefecture, which manufactures nerimono fish cakes, released “Hobo Tako” (Almost Octopus) in August. The plant-based product, which does not contain octopus, is made by steaming a mixture of fibers, starch and other ingredients.

“The product has a springy and snappy texture similar to that of real octopus meat,” a company official said.

Hyogo is famous for its Akashi brand octopus. Catches of such octopus have dwindled over the past few years, however, sending its prices skyrocketing.

Kanetetsu’s octopus alternative can be manufactured stably and is perfect for takoyaki octopus balls, an iconic dish in the Kansai region that includes Hyogo Prefecture, according to the company.

Ikeda Tohka Industries, a food ingredient manufacturer in Hiroshima Prefecture, developed a plant-based alternative for dried bonito.

Soy protein and other ingredients are pressed into shape, then turned into flakes using a machine. The company also used plant-based extracts to replicate the distinct flavor of dried bonito.

An Ikeda Tohka official said that the company made the texture of the product light and airy so that it “dances” atop a steaming okonomiyaki, a local specialty of Hiroshima, just like when bonito flakes are sprinkled onto the savory pancake.

The product is used in pastas with Japanese flavors at hotels and restaurants, and as a topping for creative and vegan dishes.

Yamaya Communications, which makes mentaiko spicy cod row, a delicacy of Fukuoka Prefecture, will start offering “Daitai Mentaiko” (Roughly Mentaiko), early next year.

For the new product, which features the pop-in-the-mouth texture that the real mentaiko has, the company soaks a newly developed starch into a special marinade containing chili, yuzu citrus and other ingredients, in order to create small egg-like shapes similar to pollack roe, the main ingredient of mentaiko.

Yamaya said that fish egg extracts are contained in the seasoning liquid because it is used to marinate pollack roe for mentaiko before being reused for the alternative product.

As Daitai Mentaiko contains only half the amount of salt as that of mentaiko, it could also be used in hospital meals.

“We’re also considering selling the product to general consumers, including those who have opted not to eat (mentaiko) due to concerns about their salt-intake levels,” a Yamaya official said.