Japanese Cuisine to Boost Restaurant Business

The Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad (JRO) highlighted the benefits of leveraging Japanese cuisine to boost a variety of restaurant businesses at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show 2009, held from May 16 through May 19 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

In the midst of economic recession and pandemic threat, restaurant industry professionals are challenged to attract more customers by offering innovative menu options at a significant value. JRO hosted cooking demonstrations at NRA to show restaurateurs how to prepare great-tasting food with affordable Japanese ingredients. JRO served approximately 17,000 samples. JRO also handed out 12,000 ZAGAT guides listing top Japanese restaurants in the US to provide recommendations on restaurants currently serving Japanese cuisine.

"Japanese cuisine is renowned for its delicious taste and appealing visual image. In these difficult economic times, JRO is dedicated to conveying Japanese ingredients as more accessible than generally thought, and helping improve the American restaurateur through the application of Japanese recipes, condiments and flavors," said Kazutaka Kato, president and CEO of JRO.

Food sampled at the JRO booth included marinated grilled chicken, California rolls, salmon fillet with soy glaze, griddled beef with Japanese citrus (yuzu) salt, stir-fried Japanese udon noodles, inari sushi and stick vegetables with shichimi-tougarashi mayo (Japanese red pepper with mayonnaise).

Restaurateurs learned how using Umami, the fifth taste produced from dashi or Japanese soup stock, can help reduce the use of salt through its savory flavor and improve the overall healthiness of dishes. Umami translates to "delicious" in Japanese.

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