The healthy soybeans powder: Kinako
Kinako is an indispensable thing for Wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets). There are a lot of kinako sweets and it is one of the popular flavour of sweets in Japan. Kinako is known as a healthy ingredient, so I would like to introduce its benefits and how to easily use kinako in home.
*1 What is Kinako? Kinako is superfood
Kinako is traditional soy powder made from roasted soy beans. The taste is quite nutty, similar to roasted nuts. It is commonly used as a topping on Japanese sweets. Soybeans which are the source of kinako, are rich in nutrients in addition to protein. So, kinako has the same nutrition as soybeans.
In addition it is easier to absorb and digest in the body than soybeans thanks to being finely ground.
Kinako can be bought at Asian supermarkets. When you go to buy kinako, I recommend buying the kinako without sugar because you can adjust the sweetness yourself with castor sugar, so please check the ingredients.
At 279, we also use kinako as a topping for Kuzu-mochi which is a soft and sticky traditional Japanese cake with a jelly-like texture, Miso brownie and Mochinuts (Japanese doughnut). It goes well with them, and adds a Japanese touch to the taste.
These sweets are really popular so if you haven’t tried them, please give them a try.
Source of photo by: わらび餅ダイエットの効果は？カロリーが低いおすすめレシピ
Miso brownie
Mochinuts
*1 Health benefits of kinako
These are just some of the benefits of adding kinako to your diet:
1. Improvement in skin health
Kinako is originally from soybeans, which is rich in isoflavone. Isoflavone is found to help keeping the skin healthy by reducing acne and improving the metabolism of the skin.
2. Reduce swelling
Kinako contains components that are good for diuretic effect, so it helps to prevent swelling within the body due to water retention.
3. Helps reduce constipation
Kinako is high in dietary fiber so it helps improve the intestinal health and reduces constipation.
4. Improve hair texture
Kinako has numerous vitamins that help make the hair smoother for beautiful hair.
5. Supports fat loss
Kinako helps to reduce the absorption of fat and helps the body to break down fat faster.
Easily add kinako to your breakfast!
I would like to introduce two ways that you can add kinako to your breakfast. These are really easy so you can immediately start if you have kinako.
1. Kinako yoghurt
You just have to put kinako in yoghurt. If you want more sweetness, put a dash of honey or sugar. You can adjust the amount yourself. How about trying a new flavour with your daily yoghurt and see if you like it.
2. Kinako milk
You can also put kinako in milk. If you want more sweetness, I recommend putting a dash of honey or sugar. If you put too much kinako, it can taste powdery so please be careful. Kinako milk goes well with both hot and cold but I recommend hot milk because kinako will dissolve more easily in hot milk.
I asked my colleagues at 279 to try it with normal milk and 3 other types of milk: soy milk, almond milk, oat milk and I asked them to vote which one is the best match with kinako. We tried both cold and hot.
The most voted one is soy milk! They say the taste has the best harmony with soy milk also being soybeans, but they can still taste the added kinako flavour. Normal milk and oat milk are not bad according to them, the taste of normal milk changes slightly that it tastes like light soy milk and they can’t really taste kinako, whereas oat milk tastes sweeter so it has enough sweetness without honey. Almond milk is the least popular because the almond flavours is stronger than kinako's flavour so they can’t really taste the kinako. However, it really depends on your personal preference, so please try them yourself and find your preferred taste at home.
Kinako is originally not sweet but it has a nice subtle flavour and fragrance so you can easily add it to many desserts, and you can adjust the sweetness easily. You can also just add kinako to something simple like milk and yoghurt, and it is also good for health. I think it is especially good for women because of its health benefits. *2 Kinako can also be stored easily, for about 1 year before opening the package. After opening, kinako’s flavour gradually dissipates so I recommend using within 1 month after opening. Try adding kinako in your diet and please let us know if you find an interesting way to use kinako.
Writer: Yuki Takatani
Reference:
*1 【栄養満点！】きな粉のおすすめ人気ランキング10選, きなこを食べるだけでたくさんのメリットが♪ | 店舗発！地域情報
*2 きな粉の賞味期限はどれくらい？開封後, 未開封など状況別に伝えるよ