Stuck in the Butter Crisis
13 May 2008
Ironically, a few weeks after our arrival in Tokyo Japanese butter has mysteriously disappeared from supermarket shelves. Those who know us well might suspect that Simon and I may actually have something to do with the current shortage. But I have to disappoint you here. Despite our vast consumption, it is not our fault (at least not entirely).
Now jokes aside: first of all, butter is not considered a basic ingredient in Japan, so of course the overall gravity of the current shortage is limited. Still, butter is not unimportant to the Japanese - its national production was established in the 1960, telling the world “we, too, can produce butter”. It seems absurd that exactly this symbol of self-sufficiency should now have failed, not least because of the state mingling too much with market mechanisms.
The current situation dates back to 2006, when hundreds of cattle were slaughtered in order to curb over-production and prevent prices from falling - rather than just letting prices level off and leaving the market to itself. This huge intervention backfired as soon as in mid-2007, when the first shortfalls of dairy products began to show. Rising grain (and hence feed) prices have added pressure on the situation since.
The inherent shortage has recently become acute as consumers started hoarding butter, retailers ran out of stock and production could not keep track. It should also be mentioned that the exorbitant import tariffs on foreign-produced butter also do not help to ease the current situation. So yes, you can still find butter in Tokyo – but either you have to be very lucky to incidentally go to the supermarket just after Japanese butter has been re-stocked, or you have the choice to buy French butter for – believe it or not – about 2500 yen (15 euros) per 200g.
It remains unclear to me why milk supply does not seem to be a problem. Apparently dairy producers are reluctant to allocate more raw material to butter production because its by-product, skimmed-milk-powder, is unpopular in Japan. I might not have the full picture, but at least from my perspective I do wonder why it has not occurred to anybody to export the excess goods, which are quite sought-after in other regions.
Anyways, we will see how this further develops. As this is not only a short-term problem, there does not seem to be any quick fix (at least nothing is really notable yet), and lifting trade barriers to bypass the acute shortage might be too logical a solution… (?)
Butter has been out of stock at our local supermarket for weeks now, and there is no imported butter in the product range. We were very lucky though to finally find real Japanese butter in a different supermarket. So you may consider the following recipe a luxury dish – not because of the tuna steak, of course, but because of the little piece of butter to finish the sauce!
Tuna Steak on Wasabi and Basil Sauce
| serves 4 |
for the tuna steak |
| 600g sashimi-quality red (akami) tuna (4 steaks) |
| some soy sauce to marinate the tuna |
| some sesame oil for frying |
| 2 tablespoons of roasted pine seeds |
for the sauce |
| 1 large onion |
| 8 thin slices of fresh ginger |
| 1 lemon |
| 300ml dashi (alternatively use other fish stock) |
| 150ml white wine |
| about 10 basil leaves |
| wasabi to taste |
| 20g butter |
| some olive oil for frying |
Marinate the tuna steaks in soy sauce.
Finely chop the onion and briefly sauté in some olive oil. Once the pieces are start getting browned, cover with dashi. I have to admit that this time I used instant dashi rather than making the stock myself. (Alternatively, you can also use other fish stock.)
Peel the ginger root and cut off about 6 fine slices. Wash the lemon and slice off the outer, yellow part of its zest. Add both the slices of lemon zest and ginger to the onions, cover with a lid and let them simmer lightly for about 30 minutes. Periodically check if there is enough liquid left so they do not burn. Once the onions are completely soft, add the white wine. Turn the heat up a bit and let it reduce again for another 5-10 minutes.
Take the mixture off the heat, remove the large bits (i.e. the ginger and the lemon zest) and press the onions through a fine-meshed sieve. Add the basil and process the sauce in a blender until smooth. Season to taste with wasabi – add it cautiously bit by bit to make sure the sauce does not get too hot!
Pour the blend back into a pan or pot and warm it up again. To give it an even smoother texture, finally stir in some butter.
Heat some sesame oil in a frying pan. Once it is very hot, take the tuna steaks out of the soy sauce and sear for just about 30 seconds on each side. The tuna should be browned on the outside, the middle part remaining raw.
For presentation, spread the green sauce on the plates; cut the tuna steaks into 1cm slices and place them on top. Finish with some roasted pine seeds.