They emerged in Mexico City, specifically at 81 Carretones Street in the neighborhood of La Merced. From there we start to give you a taste of the origin and early years of Japanese peanuts, a prized and very rich snack of Mexican gastronomy.
There are many facts that, beyond being secrets, are important to understand the migration and culinary culture of our country. So we went with Edo Nakatani, chef of Fideo Gordo restaurant, who told us his family history. Yes, his grandparents were the inventors of the Japanese peanut.
Migration, a new project, and what about us?
Let’s travel to the island of Awaji in Sumoto Prefecture. This is the birthplace of Yoshihei Nakatani, a young man from a humble family who learned various trades alongside his parents and siblings. It should be noted that during his childhood he worked in a Japanese candy store.
The financial crisis forced him to leave his place of origin, so he arrived in Mexico to join a factory dedicated to making mother-of-pearl shell buttons. His new job was located in La Merced, where he later met Emma Avila and (after some family conflicts) they managed to get married.
This was not only the beginning of a family project, but also of a new business. First orandas, a flour and salt fried food that was inspired by a breed of goldfish, and then the production of muéganos!
Yoshihei and Emma started selling a recipe consisting of puffed dough blocks bound together with piloncillo honey. Edo is not sure if this preparation was the beginning of what muéganos are today in Mexico City. What is a fact is that both desserts were a success and paved the way for the next invention.
Japanese peanuts are coming!
Techniques that Yoshihei learned in the sweet shop were implemented in his own business. Of course, adaptations with the raw materials he could get and adaptations to the flavors that the Mexican palate demanded. The touch of chile guajillo was not missing.
Emma Avila ‘s role was essential, not only in the elaboration of orandas and muéganos, but also in the origin of Japanese peanuts. In addition to her hard work in the preparation and sale, she designed a couple of machines that facilitated (and increased) the production of peanuts.
One of them consisted of a kind of rotating oven, a surprising innovation for the time and the lack of resources. Edo Nakatani tells us that his grandmother’s system is used today by large Japanese peanut factories. Of course, with sophisticated methods and tools.
The whole family supports the business
The business began to grow with the work of parents and children. There were those who handled the ovens, those who made the dough, those who packed it in cellophane bags for sale and those who took care of the housework.
The neighbors of La Merced frequented the factory (also the family’s home) to take some of these delicacies. They were the ones who, motivated by the flavor, and with a touch of ingenuity, baptized this recipe as Japanese peanuts. Although the project was actually called Nippon Products.
A recipe never patented
The obligatory question for Edo: is the recipe for Japanese peanuts patented? The answer is simple and poignant: it is not. But why not register a recipe that is not only successful, but also tasty? Well, quite simply, Edo’s grandfather was never interested in doing so.
This invention got Emma and Yoshihei’s family off the ground; they eased economic problems and coped with unemployment and the repercussions of migration. It then became a source of income for other families.
Yoshihei believed that this recipe could help other people, more families and other migrants. So there was never any interest in patenting it.
Japanese peanuts, the life of the party
In magazine stands, parties, the office and in almost any corner of Mexico City you will find them, always delicious.
Now every time you eat Japanese peanuts you will know that their origin derives from an accumulation of reflections that, like other recipes in Chilean gastronomy, are more than just good taste.