Soybean-rich onigiri a ‘food of the future’ at Osaka Expo

The food of the future? Genetically modified crops, lab-grown meat or nutrient supplements might come to mind.

But at the Osaka-Kansai Expo, one exhibitor on Aug. 4 will serve visitors what it calls the onigiri of the future, saying traditional foods are time-tested, healthy and sustainable.

“Traditional ingredients like beans and whole grains, which have long been part of Japanese diets, can also be foods of the future,” said a representative of the company, Maruyanagi Foods Inc.

The Kobe-based company’s efforts are part of an exhibition around the food culture of the future.

The rice balls feature steamed soybeans blended with white rice and fiber-rich barley. They are seasoned with salt, soy sauce and traditional dashi broth.

While the food industry is increasingly driven by technology and innovation, Maruyanagi Foods is turning to Japan’s culinary roots to address modern challenges.

For example, the onigiri addresses the global protein crisis, the lack of access to protein-rich food in some countries because of poverty or agricultural limitations. This is a growing concern as the world population increases and protein sources struggle to keep up.

Steamed soybeans provide 16.6 grams of protein per 100 grams, making them nearly as rich in protein as beef.

In addition, soybean production is gentler on water resources—it uses less than 13 percent of the water needed to raise an equivalent mass of beef—and it emits just a fraction of the greenhouse gas: less than 1.2 percent of cattle emissions.

There is support for this view from environmentalists. The World Wide Fund for Nature has recognized soybeans as one of its 50 foods of the future.

The new onigiri also addresses the lack of dietary fiber in today’s diets.

Thanks to the inclusion of barley, which contains more fiber than white rice, each 120-gram onigiri contains 5.6 grams of dietary fiber—three times that of a conventional rice ball.

Approximately 40 percent of the new onigiri is composed of barley and steamed soybeans.

Moreover, barley can be cultivated from autumn to early summer and used in crop rotation with rice, while requiring less water and labor.

The “Onigiri of the Future” will be showcased on Aug. 4 at the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion’s Food and Culture of the Future section, with 2,800 free samples served to visitors from 10 a.m.