Why does Japanese milk taste so different from American milk?

Question

When I was in Tokyo, I loved everything about it--everything, that is, except for the milk. I couldn't stand Japanese milk. Half the time it seemed like I was drinking soy milk; the other half ot the time, spoilt milk. No matter what brand I drank, it was always the same! Can someone explain what causes such a radical difference in taste?

Answer 1

I do not know were your other respondants got there answers from or what planet there arrived here from??



I am a former chef from Canada and have visited and worked in Japan, Japanese cows eat grass and not sushi, there milk is not sweetened with sugar, nor is it unpasturized, actually it is ultra-pasturized.



The issues you had were just a taste issue, I worked in Singapore and visited other Asian countries and there milk is not much different, and would taste a bit off if you were to travel there also. Most use a condensed milk, and they are not big milk drinkers, they do have a type of sweetened condensed milk similar to Eagle Brand sold in North America, they use it mostly for cooking or in iced coffee.

Answer 2

Japanese Milk

Answer 3

As mentioned by The Unknown Chef, Japanese milk is more pasteurized. However I find the biggest difference is the fat content. Back when I lived in Canada I usually drank 1% milk and sometimes 0.5% or 2% but in Japan I can only get 3.5% or fat free. Both of those taste pretty gross to me but I've found that if I buy one of each and mix them I get milk that tastes similar to Canadian milk.



Two other factors contribute to the different taste. The milk I buy in Japan is in cartons but in Canada it was always in jugs. Even in Canada I always thought carton-milk tasted weird. The last point is that Japanese supermarkets may not be as scrupulous about keeping milk refrigerated all the time or may have less cold refrigerators. I'm not sure whether this is true but to me it often tastes like milk that has been sitting out on a counter for half a day and then put back in the fridge.



One other thing, when I buy milk I always make sure what I'm buying says 牛乳 (milk) on it. There tends to be a lot of ones labelled 牛飲料 (milk beverage), which to me implies that it is not really milk so I don't buy those ones.

Answer 4

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RE:

Why does Japanese milk taste so different from American milk?

When I was in Tokyo, I loved everything about it--everything, that is, except for the milk. I couldn't stand Japanese milk. Half the time it seemed like I was drinking soy milk; the other half ot the time, spoilt milk. No matter what brand I drank, it was always the same! Can someone explain...

Answer 5

there is a brand from hokkaido that's 100% milk and unlike AMerican whole milk they do not remove the cream. So I find it to be sweeter. I find American milk to talk like milk flavored water. I donot drink milk often but when I do it's 100%.. I get a lot of crap from other people, but crap, I dirnk milk like every couple of months or so. so when I drink it or use it. I don't wanna punish myself by getting skim that's BS.

Answer 6

I havent been to japan, I have no idea what the milk tastes like... but my guess would be the cows diet is different?

Answer 7

A lot of the milk sold in Asia is sweetened with sugar. Even the 7-11 brand is. I think that it's also watered down sometimes.

Answer 8

oh, man glad you mentioned it (scratches his head) it is like this... Japanese cows are, like different, you know... they do not eat what regular cows eat, man, they like eat seaweed and rice and sushi, they are also under a lot of stress, having to make sure they do not lose face...



Seriously ? milk is not popular in Japan, a lot of Japanese people are lactose-intolerant, you were tasting the ultrapasteurized version which will keep for years, truly awful, I agree...



DAVID, I WAS JOKING DDDUHHHH...

lived in Japan for 10 years...

Answer 9

its from JAPAN......DUH!!!!!!!