What's TOKOROTEN?

Categories
Food
Area
Kanto Tokyo
Shops
Keio Shinjuku Department Store
Update date
2021-08-10

These are traditional Japanese jelly noodles made from tengusa seaweed and agar. These noodles don’t really have flavors, so they’re enjoyed with sauce and toppings which vary regionally.

In eastern Japan including Tokyo, tokoroten is commonly enjoyed with vinegar & soy sauce or sanbaizu (mixture of vinegar, mirin, soy sauce) while in western Japan including Osaka, it’s enjoyed with kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup) and sometimes kinako (roasted soy bean flour) topping. These toppings come with the tokoroten when bought at supermarkets and sweets shops.

For a person from western Japan working in Tokyo (eastern Japan) like myself, it was VERY surprising at first to see tokoroten sold in Tokyo. Most of the time, you can’t find tokoroten with kuromitsu. So I learned to purchase tokoroten and brown sugar syrup separately to enjoy in my hometown flavor.

Today’s tokoroten is from Kinokuniya supermarket. It’s eastern Japan style with additive-free sanbaizu and furikake seaweed seasoning. Smooth, slippery, jiggly texture is quite addictive! I actually bought 2 packs so I’ll show you the western Japan style too♡

Tokoroten: 279 yen per pack (incl. tax)
＠Basement 1: KINOKUNIYA

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