Food things you should know

On July 2, 2024, FamilyMart in Japan launched a "transparent pudding" that was snapped up by the public. Its appearance is almost like mineral water, and the transparent body is very eye-catching. The caramel sauce inside the product is also colorless. This transparent pudding does not contain eggs and milk, but it can make people taste the taste of traditional pudding, and it is not easy to stain clothes during consumption, showing the new trend of transparent food and food technology in the food industry.

Written by editorial department

When it comes to "pudding", the most familiar impression of the Chinese is the yellow pudding body, paired with the brown caramel seasoning on the top, which tastes the most delicious! However, on July 2, 2024, a "transparent pudding" was launched in FamilyMart Japan. It looks almost like mineral water, and the transparent body is very eye-catching. What's more special is that the caramel sauce included in the product is also transparent! It makes people wonder: Where did this strange food come from?

Open the lid of the transparent pudding box and find that the caramel syrup inside is also transparent when poured out. (Image source: macaroni website )

Without eggs and milk, it tastes like real pudding?

As expected, this transparent pudding was launched in limited FamilyMart convenience stores in limited areas of Japan (Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Tokai, Hokuriku, Kansai, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa). It immediately sparked heated discussions among Japanese people and was sold out as soon as it was put on the shelves. Many people even went there to queue up. In addition, many editors from news and blog agencies also bought some to taste: "This looks so interesting!", "It's amazing! (When you eat it) it really tastes like pudding!" Some netizens also said that although the taste of this transparent pudding is not as strong as traditional pudding and the taste is lighter, it looks refreshing and has a light coconut aroma, which is very suitable for tasting in hot summer.

However, if you look closely at the label on the back of the transparent pudding, you will find that this transparent pudding has actually removed the ingredients of "eggs and milk"?

It is worth noting that the ingredients listed on this transparent pudding do not include eggs or milk. (Image source: Yahoo Japan News)

The ingredients of transparent pudding include reduced syrup (made in Japan), gelatin, trehalose, peptizer (polysaccharide) and flavorings, while transparent syrup (caramel syrup) contains reduced syrup, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, starch syrup (a syrup originating from Japan) and flavorings. The transparent pudding is produced by TORAKU, a company located in Kobe, Japan. The company takes "more delicious", "more interesting" and "more casual" as its business principles and is committed to developing a variety of innovative desserts. Its "Kobe Pudding" product is the most well-known. In 1993, it launched the "Kobe Pudding" which combines Western desserts with Kobe's traditional techniques. It is made with eggs, cream and other dairy products, sugar and citrus liqueur. The combination of ingredients itself is very simple and is very different from other Japanese pudding products. The light wine aroma and citrus are matched in a perfect ratio, making the Kobe Pudding product well received when it was first launched. The "transparent pudding" that TORAKU helped FamilyMart make this time uses completely different ingredients from the past. It eliminates the eggs and milk ingredients and uses gelatin, trehalose and high fructose corn syrup.

The company that helped FamilyMart Japan develop transparent pudding is "TORAKU" in Kobe, Japan, and its product "Kobe Pudding" is also very popular. (Photo source: toraku_kobesweets official IG )

FamilyMart’s transparent pudding is almost sold out. If you want to try it, you can DIY it yourself!

So, how to make it specifically? Although transparent pudding is almost sold out on the market, if people want to try it, they can easily make it at home! A seasoning company from Kumamoto, Japan, " フンドーダイ", announced the production method of transparent pudding on the Internet. The required ingredients include water, vanilla extract, fine sugar and agar-agar, while caramel sauce requires mizunoko and transparent soy sauce.

In 2019, the seasoning company "Fundodai" in Kumamoto, Japan, developed "transparent soy sauce" using heat decolorization and separation technology, which was quite popular in the market. (Photo source: Official fan page of Fundodai Co., Ltd. )

Step 1: Mix the granulated sugar and agar-agar evenly and set aside. Step 2: Pour water into a pot and heat it to boiling over low heat, then add vanilla extract and the granulated sugar and agar-agar mixture from step 1, and stir with a rubber spatula to dissolve. Step 3: Pour water to lower the temperature to 50-40°C, add about 5 drops of vanilla extract, and pour into the pudding mold, refrigerate for about 1 hour. Step 4: Start making the transparent caramel syrup, put the water and transparent soy sauce into a bowl and stir evenly. Step 5: Take the transparent pudding out of the mold, put it on a plate, and drizzle it with "transparent caramel syrup" to complete.

Will transparent ingredients become a new trend in the food industry? What are its advantages?

Why are transparent foods so popular? We can analyze this from two perspectives: consumers and industry players. For consumers, transparent foods are very eye-catching. This is different from the previous "visual enjoyment" of food. It even makes people curious about the production process and taste of the food, which arouses consumers' desire to buy and try it. At the same time, through the wide dissemination of social media, the publicity effect expected by industry players can be achieved in a short period of time. From the perspective of industry players, transparent ingredients not only have the advantages of being colorless and not easy to stain clothes, but also the cooking process is not easy to destroy the beauty of the food itself. It is also very popular among some industry players, making transparent ingredients a new trend in the current food industry.

However, if we simply look at the launch of the transparent pudding in Japan and the popularity of the topic, the comments from netizens and the media are also polarized. Some consumers think that the taste of transparent pudding is not as rich as the usual pudding with eggs and milk, while some consumers think that such a light dessert is very suitable for cooling off in the summer. Regardless of the taste of this product, it has successfully brought up the topic of transparent food.

Review Editor: Lin Yuting