Do you enjoy Inari sushi? You might think it’s a healthy snack or a quick lunch option, but to be honest, it’s not as healthy as it seems.
I’m talking about the Inari sushi sold at restaurants and take away shops. They’re often too sweet and packed with calories, mainly due to the high sugar and oil content because most places use pre-made Inari skin. Before you order it next time, here’s what you should know:
Open Style Inari and traditional closed Inari
Reasons to Avoid Store-Bought Pre-Made Inari Skin
It’s LOADED WITH BAD SUGAR + MSG
Did you know most pre made skin is soaked in high fructose corn syrup? When you check the ingredient list for inari skin, you might be surprised to find that sugar, in the form of glucose, is a major component, ranking second, with additional sugar listed fourth. Sure, the shiny tofu skin might look appetizing, but that gloss is just a sign of all the sugar it contains – they are mostly soaked in notorious high fructose corn syrup.
Compared to regular sugar, high fructose corn syrup is cheaper, sweeter, and absorbed more quickly by your body. However, consuming too much of it can lead to serious health issues like insulin resistance, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Let’s have a look at the ingredients!
- Here is one example of pre-made inari skin’s ingredients:
Pre-made inari skin also contains MSG and other flavour enhancers, making it taste artificially savoury and masking the natural flavours.
It’s FULL OF UNHEALTHY OILS
As well, notice that oil is also a significant ingredient to inari-skin! Inari skin is made from Aburaage, which is deep-fried silken tofu. Whenever we use them, we have to do something called “abura nuki“, which means “removing the oil”. Most pre-made inari skins doesn’t remove the oil and is simply soaked in the syrup solution.
Why removing the oil is necessary
- Harmful to our health – transfat and extra calories
Cooking oil can be harmful to your health, especially when it’s old or oxidised, as it turns into trans fat that clogs arteries and is a major contributor to heart attacks. Additionally, there’s no way to know what type of oil was used to deep-fry pre-made tofu skins—it could be extremely old and reused multiple times. Manufacturers often use GMO cottonseed oil, which raises further concerns. Moreover, oil is naturally high in calories.
- Unpleasant taste
A small amount of quality oil adds a beautiful flavour, but old cooked oil has a strong odor and prevents flavours from being absorbed. Removing the oil allows the aburaage (fried tofu skin) to soak up flavours, enhancing the taste. Otherwise, it can turn out bland and paper-like. Fresh inari, on the other hand, is soft, juicy, and full of flavour.
- It’s NOT REAL FOOD
Pre0made inari skin can last forever, even at room temperature.
Pre-made inari skin – deep fried tofu soaked in corn syrup, MSG and soy sauce that last forever in room temperature – high in calories, bad for our health and taste is sickening sweet
I always add aburaage to my miso soup or soba and udon soups to let it absorb the rich “dashi” (Japanese stock) flavor. (See photo below.)
(These photos are from my Cooking With Soy cookbook. There are multiple recipes with photos for soy or tofu, including inari sushi)
My guess—and it seems likely—is that pre-made Inari still contains all the oil. It’s probably just soaked in glucose, which masks the oiliness and odor with strong sugar syrup. The oil content is still very high, and after soaking in a soy, sugar, and MSG mixture, it’s packed up. Yuck! But that’s just my assumption…
The GOOD NEWS is: you can still enjoy Inari without the guilt!
Store-bought Inari sushi is fine to enjoy, but keep in mind it’s high in sugar and oil. You might want to skip dessert or just be aware of the extra sugar and oil.
WHAT’S THE BEST OPTION? Cook at home!
At home, there’s no guessing. You can remove the excess oil and use quality ingredients with less sugar (I prefer unrefined sweeteners). For my recipe, I only use a third of the amount of sugar compared to traditional recipes. Don’t worry —cutting down on sugar won’t make your Inari any less delicious! The key is cooking it with umami rich dashi with half the amount of sugar!
Interested in making your own guilt-free Inari, that has less sugar and is much tastier!
You can check my cookbook “Cooking With Soy” for the recipe and other soy recipes!
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