Keeping Freshly Harvested and Freshly Made Food Delicious for a Long Time: A Fresh Look at Frozen Food



I mean isn't it possible?

In Japan, where people eat a lot of fish, including some of it raw, freezing is essential to a stable and wide supply of fresh fish. In the 1960s, technology for rapidly freezing tuna at ultra-low temperatures of -50°C was introduced. Rapid freezing is characterized by its ability to freeze the molecular structure of the food quickly so that it does not break down or degrade in quality.

Special Freezing Technology That Maintains Freshness

Frozen food manufacturers have been using rapid freezing to allow customers to defrost products and enjoy the food exactly as it was when it was fresh. By using special technology to rapidly freeze the food, it is possible to keep food fresh for a long time without drying it out. In order to make this technology more widely available, there are companies that serve to introduce producers and restaurants to freezing equipment and knowledge. Sales of Special Freezers doubled in 2020 compared to the previous year, as they allow businesses to sell fruit and fish directly to consumers, regardless of the season and without wasting any that they are unable to sell, and they also allow restaurants to offer food for takeout and for sale online. These freezers use world-renowned freezing technology made possible through a heat-exchange method.

Sushi frozen using Special Freezing™ (left) retains its vivid colors even after defrosting. Producers and restaurants are also using Special Freezers to help them develop new sales channels. Photo courtesy of DayBreak Co., Ltd.

Udon, Korokke, Fried Rice and Gyoza: A Wide Variety of Flavors and Sizes

It is said that there are around 5,500 different kinds of frozen foods distributed in Japan. The top five products by volume have remained virtually unchanged over the past few years, with udon noodles, korokke (Japanese croquettes), fried rice, gyoza (dumplings) and Hamburg steaks taking the top spots. Tasty and convenient frozen foods continue to appear on the market to cater to consumer tastes. Some items reflect modern food trends, some range from small to large portion sizes, and some have packaging that can be used instead of tableware. (Source: Japan Frozen Food Association).

Just boil frozen udon noodles in boiling water for a few minutes, and you too can recreate the texture of noodles from a specialty store from the comfort of your own home

Recreating the Taste of Restaurant-Quality Food at Home: Manufacturers' Ingenious Inventions

One manufacturer of frozen fried rice and gyoza, which are particularly popular, has been offering frozen gyoza that you can defrost and cook in a pan since they were launched 50 years ago, at a time when not many households had a microwave. When gyoza with lattices became popular at Chinese restaurants, they were reproduced as frozen foods, and in 1997, they made a breakthrough product that could produce a crispy lattice to suit the tastes of Japanese consumers, even without oil. In response to consumer comments saying they weren't able cook them properly, the manufacturers also began to include markings on the packaging for measuring how much water to use, as using the wrong amount was a common issue. Then in 2012, a product that required neither oil nor water finally appeared on the market.

The bestselling frozen gyoza product in Japan (based on sales in 2020, according to the company). In consideration of the environment, the company became the first in its industry to fully eliminate harmful refrigerants like CFCs and HCFCs from its freezers in late March 2021. With frozen gyoza, you can enjoy the taste of restaurant-quality gyoza. Photo courtesy of Ajinomoto Frozen Foods

On the other hand, because customers want even frozen fried rice to have the preferred crumbly texture that they would get at a restaurant, the company freezes freshly cooked rice in a special freezer while the rice grains are still loose. The richness of flavor is just as important as the freezing technology. Japanese people are sensitive to different flavors, so the company analyzes the way people perceive flavors to design and create products that strike a balance between the impressions people get of the product at different times: before eating it, while eating it, and after eating it.

Loose rice is mixed with the other ingredients during the IQF (Individual Quick Freezing) process. Frozen fried rice is made to a precise taste design that satisfies the sensitive palates of Japanese consumers. Photo courtesy of Ajinomoto Frozen Foods

Frozen Foods Can Also Help to Prevent Food Waste

Miura Yoshiko, a spokesperson for the Japan Frozen Food Association, explains: "Packaged frozen foods include only ingredients and food that is edible, and you can use only the specific amount you need to make your meal. At the factory, non-edible parts such as vegetable roots, seeds and so on, which would go in the trash at home, are processed by the factory and used as products such as animal feed to minimize waste." Frozen foods and freezing technology are some of the potential solutions to food waste, and this will be a field of great interest going forward.


Food waste can be reduced by Special Freezing that which is edible of food and ingredients that are in danger of being discarded due to not meeting standards or due to excess supply. Photo courtesy of DayBreak Co., Ltd.
Frozen shumai dumplings on a tray, separated one by one. You can defrost the specific number you want to eat, so that none are wasted. In Japan, many frozen foods are packaged in this way.