Vegan dumplings with euglena. Developed by Kourakuen and Euglena, confident in the taste “If it’s not delicious, people won’t eat it”

“Even those who think that vegan food is not delicious should feel deceived and eat it. I think the image of the word ‘vegan’ will change.” (euglena president Mitsuru Izumo)

From January 18, Chinese chain Kourakuen began selling “Vegan Gyoza” (280 yen including tax) jointly developed with bio-venture Euglena. The dumplings are made with only vegetable ingredients, without using any animal-derived ingredients.

In response to the recent increase in health consciousness and vegan demand, Korakuen has been developing “vegetable gyoza” that does not use meat since 2019. However, from the perspective of the balance of taste, some ingredients of animal origin remained, and it was not possible to name it “vegan”.

“We believe that customer needs for veganism will grow in Japan in the future. We wanted to somehow evolve vegetable gyoza into something that could be called ‘completely vegan,'” said Noboru Niida, president of Kourakuen Holdings.

On the other hand, in June 2021, Shusaku Toba, the owner and chef of the one-star Michelin restaurant “sio”, was appointed as a “corporate chef” who pursues the deliciousness of the microalgae Euglena (Japanese name: Euglena).

Euglena, which has been developing collaborative products with Kourakuen for some time, asked Kourakuen if they would like to develop vegan dumplings with Chef Toba. After about a year of trial and error, gyoza with no animal-derived ingredients was born.

The main ingredient is soybean-derived protein, and 7 kinds of vegetables (cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, onions, green onions, bamboo shoots, chives, perilla leaves) are used, and Euglena is added.

The “Ishigakijima Euglena” used has a unique taste and contains 59 kinds of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

The skin is slightly green and is kneaded with spinach powder. It is said that the amount of water was carefully selected to create a chewy and crispy texture. Sesame oil is used on the iron plate when grilling at the restaurant.

“This is a nutritionally well-balanced product that can be recommended not only for vegans, but also for a wide range of customers.

“In Japan, the terms low-carb, low-fat, and vegan have an image of being ‘not delicious.’ But I want to tell people that these gyoza are delicious. (Mr. Niida)

Business Insider Japan did an additional interview with Kourakuen because there was no explanation about the production, division of the cooking line, or seasoning at the presentation.

First, let’s talk about the factory production line. According to Kourakuen, the production line is the same as other dumplings. However,”We don’t produce on the same day, instead we produce on different days after cleaning the equipment.”It is said thatCooking at the store is “cooking with the same cooking equipment”explained.

When eating, you will use soy sauce, vinegar, etc. prepared at your seat. Kourakuen said in an interview, “We do not use animal-derived ingredients other than ‘Kourakuen no Moto’ (all-purpose seasoning), but just in case, we will confirm with the supplier and report again.” I got an answer*.

*From the editorial department: We will add it as soon as we receive a response from Korakuen.

“If it doesn’t taste good, you can’t eat it.”

Euglena President Mitsuru Izumo points out that it is important to increase vegan food options in Japan with a long-term perspective.

“From the ethical perspective of providing food for 7.8 billion people with as little impact on the global environment as possible (compared to livestock farming, which consumes grains as feed), more and more people are choosing vegan food overseas. Sustainable food. Production is becoming more and more important, and it is also attracting attention from the perspective of reducing CO2.”

“In the post-corona era, Japan will open its doors again and there will be a large number of inbound customers from overseas. At that time, I think it will be normal for Japan to be able to choose vegan food.” (Mr. Izumo)

President Izumo also talks about the importance of “deliciousness” as does President Niida of Korakuen. He told Business Insider Japan that he appointed Mr. Toba as corporate chef in 2019 because he wanted to “make Euglena food delicious.”

“It is important that the food we eat is ‘tasty.’ We have been failing all this time, but I thought that if we could communicate the nutritional charts and the CO2 reduction in the production process, people would choose us. But that’s not the case. Even if you say it’s nutritious or functional, if it doesn’t taste good, you won’t be able to eat it twice or three times.”

“Overseas, where veganism is popular, there are delicious vegan dishes. If Euglena is not delicious, it won’t spread to your home. It’s been two years since Chef Toba took over, and that was the biggest realization.”

President Izumo believes that this vegan dumpling will be a great opportunity to convey the deliciousness of vegan food and Euglena.

“Euglena is a type of phytoplankton algae (microalgae), and scientifically speaking, it is algae. It is a moving algae, but it is a plant.

“Even if you don’t think vegan food is delicious, I want you to feel deceived and eat it. I think the image of the word ‘vegan’ will change.”