Japanese chicken yakitori kebabs, one of the country's most-loved fast foods, will soon be making an appearance in orbit after Japan's space agency cleared them for astronaut meals.

The charbroiled chicken meat on skewers and flavoured with a variety of sauces is hugely popular in Japan and abroad, and a canned version has just won certification as a "Japanese space food" for consumption on the International Space Station.

Yakitori joins 34 other Japanese items such as "onigiri" rice balls, ramen noodles, seaweed soup and cooked mackerel, as Japanese astronauts pine for a taste of home while in orbit.

They can pick what certified Japanese food to bring on their ISS missions, adding to base meals selected by NASA, a spokesman from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) explained on Wednesday.

The approved yakitori will come in two flavours -- soy sauce and "yuzu kosho" -- green pepper infused with the Japanese citrus fruit yuzu.

But while astronauts may want the full yakitori experience of chewing from a bamboo skewer, strict space rules will make this impossible.

"Eating from skewers in space would be good... but the policy is to leave as little waste as possible," the JAXA spokesman told AFP.

So the yakitori will be eaten from ring-pull cans with special velcro to keep it from floating away in the microgravity environment.

The approved yakitori cans are manufactured by Hotei Foods, based in Shizuoka, southwest of Tokyo. The company said they expect their cans will blast off when Japanese astronauts leave for the ISS next year.

They won JAXA approval after clearing a rigorous set of criteria such as guaranteeing the food would not degrade even after 18 months at room temperature.

Related Links
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Are we set to taste space wine
Moscow (Sputnik) Nov 07, 2019
A European start-up has sent a batch of red wine to the International Space Station. However, this is not for the astronauts to have an elegant soiree with a view of Earth or to deal with stress, but for scientific purposes. The aim is to test how microgravity will influence the classic beverage, which could open up new prospects for winemaking. Space tech start-up Space Cargo Unlimited, based in Europe, has launched 12 bottles of red wine to the International Space Station (ISS) to see how the dr ... read more