Japanese Cuisine
by: Kirsten Hawkins
Tempura, sukiyaki, sashimi, sushi – even the words used to describe the most
basic of Japanese dishes are exotic and beautiful. Japanese cuisine is
easily one of the healthiest in the world, with its concentration on fresh
fish, seafood, rice and vegetables. The pungent sauces and delicate flavors
of fresh foods complement each other beautifully, and the methods of
presentation turn even simple meals into beautiful events.
The Japanese have easily a dozen different names for rice, depending on how
it is prepared and what it is served with. The most common meal is a rice
bowl, a bowl of white rice served with various toppings or ingredients mixed
in. So popular is it that the Rice Bowl has even made its way into the world
of Western convenience foods alongside ramen noodles. Domburi is a bowl of
rice topped with another food: domburi tendon, for instance, is rice topped
with tempura and domburi gyudon is rice topped with beef. The Japanese
adopted fried rice from the Chinese, and a century ago, when curry was first
introduced, developed Kare Raisu, curry rice. It is now such a popular dish
that there are many fast-food restaurants that serve several versions of it
in take-away bowls.
Besides white rice served as a side dish, Japanese cuisine also features
onigiri – rice balls wrapped in seaweed, often with a ‘surprise’ in the
middle, and kayu, a thin gruel made of rice that resembles oatmeal.
As an island nation, it’s not surprising that seafood is featured in
Japanese cuisine. Sushi and sashimi both are raw fish and seafood with
various spices. Impeccably fresh fish is the secret to wonderful sashimi and
sushi, served with wasabi and soya sauce. The Japanese love of beauty and
simplicity turns slices and chunks of raw fish into miniature works of art.
Fish sliced so thin that it’s transparent may be arranged on a platter in a
delicate fan that alternates pink-fleshed salmon with paler slices of fish.
Sushi is typically arranged to best display the colors and textures to their
best advantage, turning the platter and plate into palettes for the artistry
of the chef.
Traditionally, meat plays a minor role in the Japanese diet, though it has
been taking a larger and larger role over the past fifty years as Japan
becomes more westernized. Beef, chicken and pork may be served with several
meals a week now. One of the more popular meat dishes is ‘yakitori’ –
chicken grilled on a skewer and served with sauce. A typical quick lunch
might include a skewer of yakitori and a rice bowl with sushi sauce.
In an interesting twist, Japan has imported dishes from other cuisines and
‘Japanized’ them, adopting them as part of their own cuisines. Korokke, for
instance, are croquettes adopted from those introduced by the English last
century. In Japan, the most common filling is a mixture of mashed potatoes
and minced meat. Other Soshoyu – western dishes that have made their way
into Japanese everyday cuisine include ‘omuraisu’, a rice omelet, and
hambagau, the Japanized version of an American hamburger.
