From our other sites
The story
A thread appeared on 5channel’s Newsoku VIP board asking for help finding side dishes to go with rice porridge for a family member who has no teeth. According to the poster, the person in question is their 72-year-old father, who has already grown tired of seasoned nori and furikake (rice seasoning). Suggestions poured in, ranging from standbys like mozuku seaweed and gobo okaka (simmered burdock root with bonito flakes) to tofu, canned fish cooked soft, eggs, and simmered taro. At the same time, opinions on food texture varied widely — some worried burdock root would be too tough to chew — showing just how much “soft enough” differs from person to person when you have no teeth. Several commenters also noted that vegetables in particular require extra prep work.
What people said
Is there anything good I could pick up at the supermarket?
If it's about adding a side dish, maybe mozuku seaweed?
Can mozuku actually help him get the porridge down?!
He can't bite through it
No, I need something that actually goes *with* porridge, please 🙇
He already eats that all the time
It'd probably go well with porridge too
Isn't burdock root pretty tough though?
There are a lot of furikake-type souvenir products out there
Just order one online
I'll take a look later
That's what I said, isn't it — add a side dish
There's only so much you can do with porridge alone, so you've gotta switch things up with a side dish or some soup
It's soft so it should be fine
Texture's kind of like hijiki seaweed
Though I guess it'd work if you chopped it up really fine
Egg dishes, potatoes/taro (simmer them well)
Leafy greens — just the tender leaf tips
Beyond that, you really just have to vary things up with seasoning
Guess I'll try making simmered taro
That's really helpful, thank you 😊
Doesn't matter if it's yakisoba or whatever — cut it up fine and serve it with a slightly thickened soup
But make sure you let it cool properly first — without teeth, people feel heat more intensely than the rest of us do
Just make sure to let it cool down properly
Phytochemical soup
I'm reading all of this
It's really helpful
But if we're talking nutritious foods you can eat without teeth
Avocado's great
My 72-year-old dad would never touch something like that
Though I'm a pretty big fan myself
Background and Key Points
A recurring theme in threads like this is that what counts as “soft” varies from person to person, even for the same food. When one poster recommended gobo okaka (burdock root with bonito flakes), another shot back asking “isn’t burdock tough, though?” — the thread settled the question by noting that chopping it finely makes it manageable. In general, soft diets for elderly people require extra steps for fibrous root vegetables and foods like hijiki seaweed — chopping them very small or simmering them for a long time. The thread also raised the point that people without teeth feel heat more intensely than others, with some posters stressing the importance of letting food cool before serving it. While meat, fish, and eggs offer plenty of options, several commenters noted that vegetables need extra preparation, showing that the difficulty varies by food category. This grab-bag of ideas should serve as a practical resource for readers facing the same dilemma.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Newsoku VIP) thread “[Urgent Request] Side Dishes for Rice Porridge That People Without Teeth Can Eat“.
Leave a Reply