American bacon in Tokyo?
September 19, 2015 9:09 AM Subscribe
My Japanese-American friend who moved back to Japan about ten years ago has been harassing me ever since for certain American-style products. Does anyone know a Japanese source for properly cured pork? Nothing fancy, just standard smoked slices. Alternatively, does anyone have a way to get cheap legal American meat into Japanese hands without too much hassle? Since my friend is behaving a lot like a desperate junky, I will assume he is willing to pay a premium for this service.
Apologies if this advice is too obvious or not terribly useful, but last fall when we were in Tokyo, I sampled some really great bacon — really much better than most of the stuff I'm used to in North America -- at one of the large department store food halls. The problem: I can't pinpoint the department store (I think it was Isetan, but I can't be sure) and if anything this bacon was somewhat fancy — it was thick-cut and, while I didn't look at the price because I wasn't going to buy any, I'm certain it wasn't cheap. It was good, though. It would certainly scratch my itch for bacon (at a price) if I were in your friend's spot.
posted by veggieboy at 9:24 AM on September 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by veggieboy at 9:24 AM on September 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is not your garden-variety bacon, but Benton's Bacon is quite famous, extremely delicious and ships internationally (though I can't verify service to Japan without registering on their website.) If they ship to Japan, it's legal and above-board.
posted by workerant at 9:31 AM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by workerant at 9:31 AM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Don't have any idea about 'legal' --- is it okay to ship food into Japan? --- but there are several companies that make fully-cooked shelf-stable bacon: stick it in a microwave and pig out. The box I just pulled out of my cabinet is from Boar's Head ( boarshead.com ), it comes from Canada and is pretty good.
posted by easily confused at 9:42 AM on September 19, 2015
posted by easily confused at 9:42 AM on September 19, 2015
MeFite Ghidorah is the best source for American meats in Tokyo, that's for sure. It was formerly called Magical Animal, now called Beer Animal (he's partnered with folks who make craft beer).
posted by Nevin at 10:41 AM on September 19, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Nevin at 10:41 AM on September 19, 2015 [6 favorites]
Costco is in Japan (or at least Tokyo). I know Korea is not Japan, but my parents go to Costco in Korea for their American bacon fix (Hormel brand, etc). Korean-made bacon sold in Korean supermarket chains resembles deli ham more than anything else.
posted by spamandkimchi at 2:25 PM on September 19, 2015
posted by spamandkimchi at 2:25 PM on September 19, 2015
The Meat Guy looks like they have decent American style bacon sold by the slice, or by the block. I keep meaning to try them but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
Anything with meat can't be sent to Japan legally right now. (I mean, by a person, obviously there are companies licensed to) When I moved here in July I used a Japanese service to send over some of my things, and they wouldn't even let me pack a bottle of my favorite shelf stable BBQ sauce because lard is an ingredient.
posted by Caravantea at 4:58 PM on September 19, 2015
Anything with meat can't be sent to Japan legally right now. (I mean, by a person, obviously there are companies licensed to) When I moved here in July I used a Japanese service to send over some of my things, and they wouldn't even let me pack a bottle of my favorite shelf stable BBQ sauce because lard is an ingredient.
posted by Caravantea at 4:58 PM on September 19, 2015
The Meat Guy is great - they sell fantastic sausages, great lamb chops, delicious burger patties - so I'm sure their bacon will be good.
For ordinary American bacon, Costco has half a dozen stores in the Tokyo area, and they sell big packets of frozen precooked bacon that can be conveniently heated up at breakfast time without dirtying a frying pan. I'd also recommend "White Smoke" back bacon, made by a transplanted Texan who lives in Tokyo now, available at Costco and National Azabu.
I don't think Ghidorah's Beer Animal sells bacon to go anymore; it's more of a bar setup now.
As a last resort, Foreign Buyers' Club has a deli department that might be worth checking out, and they deliver throughout Japan.
posted by Umami Dearest at 7:14 PM on September 19, 2015
For ordinary American bacon, Costco has half a dozen stores in the Tokyo area, and they sell big packets of frozen precooked bacon that can be conveniently heated up at breakfast time without dirtying a frying pan. I'd also recommend "White Smoke" back bacon, made by a transplanted Texan who lives in Tokyo now, available at Costco and National Azabu.
I don't think Ghidorah's Beer Animal sells bacon to go anymore; it's more of a bar setup now.
As a last resort, Foreign Buyers' Club has a deli department that might be worth checking out, and they deliver throughout Japan.
posted by Umami Dearest at 7:14 PM on September 19, 2015
Response by poster: Hi all, thanks for all the great responses and suggestions.
I'm Area Control's friend in JPN, the one that he mentioned in his original post. He lent me his account to write back to you all.
Basically, what I am looking for is raw bacon, ie, not pre-cooked bacon. Similar to what spamandkimchi mentioned in Korea, in JPN the local bacon is closer to ham. Unlike American bacon, the local bacon when cooked doesn't get crispy, it gets hard and dry.
Here are the places that I have confirmed do not sell American bacon:
(1) National Supermarket. They used to, but demand was too low and the distributor discontinued it. They do sell low salt Canadian bacon, which does get crispy when cooked, but low salt bacon is an oxymoron.
(2) The Meat Guy. Agree, this place is AWESOME. They have some excellent meat. I've talked to Jason, the owner, about my problem and he doesn't like American bacon. I've tried his other recommendations, which are good, but not the same. They do have some of the best beef jerky I have ever had though as well as a ton of other great stuff.
(3) Benton's Bacon doesn't ship to JPN...too bad, I LOVE country ham as well. Actually, I've written to about 4 other similar places in the US and they all can't ship to JPN due to regulations.
(4) Nissen and Meiji-ya. Similar to National Supermarket, but they also do not sell American style bacon.
I have heard that Costco sells it, so I think that will be my next stop. I just need to pony up the membership fee.
Also, National Supermarket does sell a locally made bacon which is probably the closest thing I have found. It is made by Nakano Meat. If you can't find it in the store, ask one of the employees.
One other place I just found last week...the US Air Force base in Tama Hills. Actually, all the US military bases sell American food in the PX. The problem of course is that they just don't let anyone onto the bases, even if your are a US citizen. One of my sons runs X-country and had a meet there last week. It turns out that once you can get onto the base, you can use their facilities...including the PX.
Thanks again for all your help and all the great responses! Much appreciated.
And if any of you want some info on JPN, just post.
posted by Area Control at 5:19 AM on September 23, 2015
I'm Area Control's friend in JPN, the one that he mentioned in his original post. He lent me his account to write back to you all.
Basically, what I am looking for is raw bacon, ie, not pre-cooked bacon. Similar to what spamandkimchi mentioned in Korea, in JPN the local bacon is closer to ham. Unlike American bacon, the local bacon when cooked doesn't get crispy, it gets hard and dry.
Here are the places that I have confirmed do not sell American bacon:
(1) National Supermarket. They used to, but demand was too low and the distributor discontinued it. They do sell low salt Canadian bacon, which does get crispy when cooked, but low salt bacon is an oxymoron.
(2) The Meat Guy. Agree, this place is AWESOME. They have some excellent meat. I've talked to Jason, the owner, about my problem and he doesn't like American bacon. I've tried his other recommendations, which are good, but not the same. They do have some of the best beef jerky I have ever had though as well as a ton of other great stuff.
(3) Benton's Bacon doesn't ship to JPN...too bad, I LOVE country ham as well. Actually, I've written to about 4 other similar places in the US and they all can't ship to JPN due to regulations.
(4) Nissen and Meiji-ya. Similar to National Supermarket, but they also do not sell American style bacon.
I have heard that Costco sells it, so I think that will be my next stop. I just need to pony up the membership fee.
Also, National Supermarket does sell a locally made bacon which is probably the closest thing I have found. It is made by Nakano Meat. If you can't find it in the store, ask one of the employees.
One other place I just found last week...the US Air Force base in Tama Hills. Actually, all the US military bases sell American food in the PX. The problem of course is that they just don't let anyone onto the bases, even if your are a US citizen. One of my sons runs X-country and had a meet there last week. It turns out that once you can get onto the base, you can use their facilities...including the PX.
Thanks again for all your help and all the great responses! Much appreciated.
And if any of you want some info on JPN, just post.
posted by Area Control at 5:19 AM on September 23, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by wintersweet at 9:13 AM on September 19, 2015