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Feature
Japanese
Food & Drink
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The
cuisine of Japan is shaped by its four distinct seasons and by
regions. It is a cuisine that first and foremost delights the senses
-- in Japan, the eyes, nose, and palate feast along with the stomach.
The essence of Japanese cuisine is based on various elements of
taste, cooking techniques, and the use of the freshest seasonal ingredients.
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Geography
Japan
(the land of the rising sun) is composed of four main islands,
stretching north to south: Hokkaiko, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. It
also includes the islands of Okinawa and around 4,000 smaller
islands. The whole of Japan would fit inside the state of California.
The capital is Tokyo. |
The
Food
The
typical Japanese meal consists of a bowl of rice (gohan), a bowl of
miso soup (miso shiru), pickled vegetables (tsukemono) and fish or
meat. While rice is the staple food, several kinds of noodles (udon,
soba and ramen) are cheap and very popular for light meals. As an
island nation, the Japanese take great pride in their seafood. A wide
variety of fish, squid, octopus, eel, and shellfish appear in all
kinds of dishes from sushi to tempura.
Rice
Sticky,
short-grained rice is the staple food in Japan. Uncooked rice is
called kome. The cultivation of rice in paddy fields traditionally
required great cooperation between villagers and this is said to have
been central to the evolution of Japanese culture. Their are several
thousand varieties grown in Japan, with Koshihikari and Akita Komachi
being among the most popular. Rice is also used to make mochi (rice
cakes), senbei (rice crackers) and sake (rice wine). Rice can also be
cooked with red beans (sekihan), seafood and vegetables (Takikomi
gohan) or as a kind of watery porridge seasoned with salt (kayu)
which is very popular as a cold remedy. Onigiri are rice balls with
seafood or vegetables in the middle, usually wrapped in a piece of
dried seaweed (nori). They are traditionally part of a packed lunch
or picnic. Individually wrapped onigiri, usually a triangular shape,
make a good snack and are available at convenience stores.
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Noodles
- Udon and soba
Udon
noodles are made from wheat flour. They are boiled and served in a
broth, usually hot but occasionally cold in summer, and topped with
ingredients such as a raw egg to make tsukimi udon, and deep-fried
tofu aburaage to make kitsune udon. Soba is buckwheat noodles, which
are thinner and a darker colour than udon. Soba is usually served
cold (zaru soba) with a dipping sauce, sliced green onions and wasabi. |
When
served in a hot broth, it is known as kake soba. Served with the
same toppings as udon, you get tsukimi soba, kitsune soba and tempura soba.
Noodles
- Ramen
While
udon and soba are also believed to have come from China, only ramen
retains its image as Chinese food. Ramen is thin egg noodles which
are almost always served in a hot broth flavored with shoyu or miso.
This is topped with a variety of ingredients such as slices of roast
pork (chashu), bean sprouts (moyashi), sweetcorn and butter. Ramen is
popular throughout Japan and different regions are known for their
variations on the theme. Examples are Corn-butter Ramen in Sapporo
and Tonkotsu Ramen in Kyushu. Instant ramen (the most famous brand is
Pot Noodles), to which you just add hot water, has become very
popular in recent years.
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Soy
products
The
humble soybean (daizu) is used to make a wide variety of foods and
flavourings. Soybeans and rice are used to make miso, a paste used
for flavouring soup and marinating fish. Together with soy sauce
(shoyu), miso is a foundation of Japanese cuisine. Tofu is soybean
curd and a popular source of protein, especially for vegetarians.
These days, even tofu donuts and tofu icecream are available. Natto,
fermented soybeans, is one of the healthiest but also the most
notorious item on the menu. With a pungent smell and sticky, stringy
texture, natto is easy to hate straight away. Japanese people
themselves tend to either love it or hate it. It is usually served
with chopped onions and a raw egg and mixed into a bowl of rice. |
Sashimi
and sushi
These
two dishes are often thought to be one and the same. Sashimi
consists of thin slices of raw fish or other seafood served with
spicy Japanese horseradish (wasabi) and shoyu while sushi consists of
the same, served on vinegared rice, but also includes cooked seafood,
vegetables and egg. Another form of sushi is norimaki, or sushi roll,
in which the filling is rolled in rice with a covering of nori. Cheap
sushi is available at supermarkets or at kaiten-zushi restaurants,
where customers sit at a counter and choose what they want from a
conveyor belt.
Domburimono
These
dishes consist of a bowl (domburi) of rice covered with one of a
variety of toppings such as boiled beef (gyudon), chicken and egg
(oyakodon), deep-fried shrimp (tendon) or deep-fried pork cutlet and
egg (katsudon). They are often eaten as part of a reasonably priced
'lunch set', with miso soup and pickles.
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Tempura
Seafood
or vegetables dipped in batter and deep-fried, tempura is served
with a dipping sauce and daikon. The word 'tempura' comes from the
Portuguese 'tempero' (gravy or sauce) and this dish dates from the
mid-16th century, when Portuguese and Spanish culture was first
introduced to Japan. Tempura can be served with a side bowl of rice
and soup or on a bowl of rice (tendon) or noodles (tempura udon,
tempura soba). |
Sukiyaki
This
is a savoury stew of vegetables and beef cooked in a large nabe and
dipped in a bowl of beaten raw egg. The vegetables usually used are
green onion, shiitake mushrooms and chrysanthemum leaves (shungiku).
Also added are tofu and gelatinous noodles (shirataki) and the
ingredients are cooked in a sauce made of soy sauce, sugar and sweet
cooking sake (mirin).
Shabushabu
For
this dish, diners dip paper-thin slices of beef in a pot of boiling
water and stock for a few seconds and then dip the cooked beef in
sesame sauce (goma dare) before eating. Later, vegetables such as
enoki mushrooms and Chinese cabbage, tofu and shirataki are added.
When cooked, these are dipped in a soy and citrus sauce (ponzu).
After the beef and vegetables have been finished, udon can be added
to the pot and eaten with the broth. Other flavourings used include
crushed garlic, chives and daikon. Economical (for those with a big
appetite) all-you-can-eat meals are common in Shabushabu restaurants
Okonomiyaki
This
can best be described as a savoury Japanese pancake. Chopped
vegetables and meat or seafood are mixed with batter and cooked on a
griddle. Like a pancake, the okonomiyaki is flipped over and cooked
on both sides. It is then topped with a special sauce and mayonnaise
and sprinkled with nori and dried fish flakes (katsuobushi).
Variations include adding a fried egg or soba.
Yakitori
Yakitori
itself means broiled chicken. Various cuts of chicken, including
heart, liver and cartilage are cooked on skewers over a charcoal
grill. Also cooked this way at yakitori restaurants (yakitoriya) are
an assortment of vegetables such as green peppers (piman), garlic
cloves (ninniku) and onions (negi). They are flavoured using either a
tangy sauce (tare) or salt (shio). The menu will usually contain a
variety of other foods as well. Yakitoriya are usually laid-back
places where the food is a snack to accompany drinking.
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