Japanese Food Tips

Originally there was no culture of eating cheese until about 50 years ago in Japan. In recent years, although the consumption of cheese is much less than in the West, Japanese now eat cheese in many dishes such as pizza, pasta, cheesecake and other confections. Because Japanese were eating cheese melted on pizza at home, in 1987, one Japanese manufacturer, for the first time in the world, commercialized sliced cheese for melting. Due to the popularity of horizontal type oven toasters in Japan, the demand for this type of cheese has increased. Whereas normal sliced cheese does not stretch when heat is applied, sliced cheese for melting does. Each slice of this cheese is wrapped in plastic. It is about 8.5 cm./ 3 1/4 in. square, and is almost the size of the white bread widely sold in Japan. It is about 50-60 kcal per slice and is often sold in a package of seven slices at supermarkets.