Konjac

In Japanese cuisine, konjac (konnyaku) appears in dishes such as oden. It is typically mottled grey and firmer in consistency than most gelatins. It has very little taste; the common variety tastes vaguely like salt, usually with a slightly oceanic taste and smell (from the seaweed powder added to it, though some forms omit the seaweed). It is valued more for its texture than flavor.

Ito konnyaku (糸蒟蒻) is a type of Japanese food consisting of konjac cut into noodle-like strips. It is usually sold in plastic bags with accompanying water. It is often used in sukiyaki and oden. The name literally means 'thread-konjac'.

Japanese konnyaku is made by mixing konjac flour with water and limewater.[6] Hijiki is often added for the characteristic dark color and flavor. Without additives for color, konjac is pale white. It is then boiled and cooled to solidify. Konjac made in noodle form is called shirataki and used in foods such as sukiyaki and gyūdon.

Konjac is consumed in parts of China's Sichuan province; the corm is called moyu (Chinese: 魔芋; lit. 'magical taro'), and the jelly is called "konjac tofu" (魔芋豆腐 móyù dòufu) or "snow konjac" (雪魔芋 xuě móyù).

The dried corm of the konjac plant contains around 40% glucomannan gum. This polysaccharide makes konjac jelly highly viscous and may be responsible for many of its putative health benefits as used in traditional Chinese medicine, detoxification, tumour-suppression, blood stasis alleviation and phlegm liquefaction.[7] The dietary fiber from the corm of konjac is used as a component of weight loss supplements.[8]

Konjac can also be made into a popular East Asian fruit jelly snack, known variously in the United States as lychee cups (after a typical flavor and nata de coco cube suspended in the gel) or konjac candy, usually served in bite-sized plastic cups.

Perhaps because of several highly publicized deaths and near-deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area among children and elderly caused by suffocation while eating konjac candy, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued product warnings[9] in 2001, and there were subsequent recalls in the United States and Canada. Choking and intestinal blockage risk warnings have been published at more recent websites.[10]

Unlike gelatine and some other commonly used gelling agents, konjac fruit jelly does not melt readily in the mouth. Some products form a gel strong enough to require chewing to disintegrate the gel. Though the product is intended to be eaten by gently squeezing the container, a consumer can suck the product out with enough force to unintentionally lodge it in the trachea. Because of this hazard, the European Union and Australia banned Konjac fruit jelly.[11][12][13][14]

Some konjac jelly snacks are not of a size and consistency that pose a choking risk, but are nonetheless affected by the government bans.[15] Some products that remain in East Asian markets have an increased size, unusual shape, and more delicate consistency than the round, plug-like gels that were associated with the choking incidents. The snacks usually have warning labels advising parents to make sure their children chew the jelly thoroughly before swallowing.

Japan's largest manufacturer of konjac snacks, MannanLife, temporarily stopped producing the jellies after a 21-month-old Japanese boy choked to death on a frozen MannanLife konjac jelly.[16] 17 people died from choking on konjac between 1995 and 2008.[17] MannanLife konjac jelly's packaging bag now shows a note to consumers, advising them to cut the product into smaller pieces before serving it to small children.

Konjac corm powder has a noticeably fishy smell and is used as an ingredient in vegan alternative seafood products.[18] It can be incorporated into plant-based versions of seafood. For Chinese cooking, thin strands of konjac gel can be used as substitute for shark fins when preparing a plant-based version of shark fin soup.[19][20]

Konjac can also be used for facial massage accessories, which are currently popular in Korea and gaining popularity in the West. Most commonly this is through the use of a konjac sponge, which is unique in that it can be used on sensitive skin that may become easily irritated with more common exfoliating tools (such as loofahs or washcloths).

In traditional hand papermaking in Japan, konnyaku imparts strength to paper for dyeing, rubbing, folding—and other manipulations, such as momigami.[21]