Japanese cuisine

2006-06-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

Traditional Japanese cuisine is dominated by white rice (hakumai, 白米), and few meals would be complete without it. Anything else served during a meal--fish, meat, vegetables, tsukemono (pickles)--is considered a side dish, known as okazu.

Traditional Japanese meals are named by the number of side dishes that accompany the rice and soup that are nearly always served. The simplest Japanese meal, for example, consists of ichijū-issai (一汁一菜; "one soup, one side" or "one dish meal"). This means soup, rice, and one accompanying side dish--usually a pickled vegetable like daikon. A traditional Japanese breakfast, for example, usually consists of miso soup, rice, and a pickled vegetable. The most common meal, however, is called ichijū-sansai (一汁三菜; "one soup, three sides"), or soup, rice, and three side dishes, each employing a different cooking technique. The three side dishes are usually raw fish (sashimi), a grilled dish, and a simmered (sometimes called boiled in translations from Japanese) dish -- although steamed, deep fried, vinegared, or dressed dishes may replace the grilled or simmered dishes. Ichijū-sansai often finishes with pickles such as umeboshi and green tea.

This Japanese view of a meal is reflected in the organization of traditional Japanese cookbooks. Chapters are organized according to cooking techniques: fried foods, steamed foods, and grilled foods, for example, and not according to particular ingredients (e.g., chicken or beef) as are western cookbooks. There may also be chapters devoted to soups, sushi, rice, noodles, and sweets.

Since Japan is an island nation, its people consume much seafood including fish, shellfish, octopus, squid, crab, lobster, shrimp and seaweed. Although not known as a meat eating country, very few Japanese consider themselves vegetarians. Beef and chicken are commonly eaten and have become part of everyday cuisine.

Noodles, originating from China, have become an essential part of Japanese cuisine. There are two traditional types of noodle, soba and udon. Made from buckwheat flour, soba (蕎麦) is a thin, brown noodle. Made from wheat flour, udon (うどん) is a thick, white noodle. Both are generally served in a soy-flavored fish broth with various vegetables. A more recent import from China, dating to the early 19th century, is ramen (ラーメン; Chinese wheat noodles), which has become extremely popular. Ramen is served in a variety of soup stocks ranging from soy sauce/fish stock to butter/pork stock.

Although most Japanese eschew eating insects, there are a couple of exceptions. In some regions, grasshoppers (inago) and bee larvae (hachinoko) are not uncommon dishes. Salamander is eaten as well in places.

Dishes for special occasions

In Japanese tradition some dishes are strongly tied to a festival or event. Major such combinations include:

Osechi - New Year.
Chirashizushi, clear soup of crumbs and amazake - Hinamatsuri.
botamochi (sticky rice dumpling with sweet azuki paste) - Spring equinox.
Chimaki (steamed sweet rice cake) - Tango no Sekku and Gion Festival.
Hamo (a kind of fish) and somen - Gion Festival.
Sekihan, cooked rice with adzuki - celebration in general.
Soba - New Year's Eve. This is called toshi koshi soba (年越しそば) (literally "year crossing soba").

In some regions every 1st and 15th day of the month people eat a mixture of rice and adzuki (azuki meshi).

Japanese ingredients

Rice
- Short or medium grain white rice
- Mochi rice (glutinous rice)
Vegetables:
- nira (Chinese chives)
- spinach
- cucumber
- eggplant
- gobo (burdock)
- daikon
- sweet potato
- renkon (lotus root)
- takenoko (bamboo shoots)
- negi (Welsh onion)
- fuki (butterbur)
- moyashi (mung or soybean sprouts)
- kaiware (radish sprouts)
- Sansai (wild vegetables)
- Konnyaku (shirataki)
Mushrooms:
- shiitake
- matsutake
- enokitake
- nameko (plant)
- shimeji
- eringi
Tsukemono (pickled vegetables)
seaweed:
- nori
- konbu
- wakame
- hijiki
- others; see Category:Sea vegetables
Processed seafood:
- chikuwa
- niboshi
- dried cuttlefish
- kamaboko
- surimi
- Satsuma-age
Noodles (udon, soba, somen, ramen)
Eggs (chicken, quail)
Meats (pork, beef, chicken, horse), sometimes as minchi (minced meat)
Beans (soy, adzuki)
Bean products:
- Edamame
- Miso
- Soy sauce (light, dark, tamari)
- Tofu (tofu, agedōfu)
- Yuba
Fruits:
- persimmon
- chestnut
- nashi pear
- loquat
Citrus fruits:
- daidai
- iyokan
- kabosu
- kumquat
- mikan
- natsumikan (amanatsu)
- sudachi
- yuzu
Katakuri flour, kudzu flour, rice powder, soba flour, wheat flour
Fu (wheat gluten)

Japanese flavorings

It is not generally thought possible to make authentic Japanese food without shō-yu (soy sauce), miso and dashi.

Shō-yu (Soy sauce), dashi, mirin, sugar, rice vinegar, miso, sake.
Kombu, katsuobushi, niboshi.
Negi (welsh onion), onions, garlic, nira (garlic chives), rakkyo (a type of scallion)
Sesame seeds, sesame oil, sesame salt (gomashio), furikake, walnuts or peanuts to dress.
Wasabi (and imitation wasabi from horseradish), mustard, red pepper, ginger, shiso (or beefsteak) leaves, sansho, citrus peel, and honeywort (called mitsuba).
Monosodium Glutamate, for better or for worse, is often used by chefs and food companies as a flavor enhancer, as well as being available on the table as a condiment.

Deep-Fried dishes (Agemono)

Korokke (croquette) - breaded and deep-fried balls of mashed potato with creamy vegetable, seafood, or meat-flavored fillings.
Kushiage - meat deep fried on a skewer.
Tempura - battered and deep-fried vegetables, seafood, and meat.
Tonkatsu - deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (chicken versions called chicken katsu).

Donburi

A one-bowl dish of hot steamed rice with various savory toppings, usually includes cooking an egg as an ingredient

Katsudon - deep-fried breaded cutlet of pork (tonkatsudon), chicken (chicken katsudon) or fish (e.g., magurodon)
Oyakodon - (Parent and Child) Usually chicken and egg but sometimes salmon and salmon roe
Gyūdon - seasoned beef
Tendon - battered, deep fried foods, usually shrimp and vegetables.
Unatamadon - broiled eel with vegetables.

Grilled and pan-fried dishes (Yakimono)

Gyoza - Chinese dumplings (potstickers), usually filled with pork and vegetables
Hamachi Kama - grilled yellow tail tuna jaw and cheek bone
Kushiyaki - meat and vegetable kabobs
Okonomiyaki - pan-fried batter cakes with various savory toppings (see also Okonomiyaki restaurants)
Omu-Soba - an omelette with yakisoba as its filling
Takoyaki - a spherical, fried dumpling of batter with a piece of octopus inside
Teriyaki - grilled, broiled, or pan-fried meat, fish, chicken or vegetables glazed with a sweetened soy sauce
Unagi, including kabayaki - grilled and flavored eel
Yakisoba - Japanese style fried noodles
Yakitori - chicken kebabs

Nabemono (one pot cooking)

Motsunabe - cow intestine, hakusai (bok choi) and various vegetables are cooked in a light soup base
Nikujaga, a Japanese version of beef stew.
Oden
Shabu-shabu - hot pot with thinly sliced beef, vegetables, and tofu boiled in a thin stock and dipped in a soy or sesame-based sauce before eating.
Sukiyaki - thinly sliced beef and vegetables cooked in a special sauce made of soy sauce, dashi, sugar, and sake. Participants cook at the table then dip food into their individual bowls of raw egg before eating it.
Tecchiri - hot pot with blowfish and vegetables, a specialty of Osaka.

Noodles (men-rui)

Noodles often take the place of rice in a meal. However, the Japanese appetite for rice is so strong that many restaurants even serve ramen-rice combination sets.

Soba - thin brown buckwheat noodles served chilled with various toppings or in hot broth
Ramen - thin light yellow noodle served in hot broth with various toppings; of Chinese origin, it is a popular and common item in Japan
Udon - thick wheat noodle served with various toppings or in a hot shoyu and dashi broth
Champon - yellow noodles of medium thickness served with a great variety of seafood and vegetable toppings in a hot broth which originated in Nagasaki as a cheap food for students
Somen
Okinawa soba - a wheat-flour noodle often served with sōki, steamed pork
Bifun - thin rice noodles

Rice (gohanmono)

Mochi - soft rice cake
Ochazuke - green tea poured over white rice, often flavored
Onigiri - Japanese rice balls
Sekihan - red rice with adzuki beans
Kamameshi - rice topped with vegetables and chicken or seafood, then baked in an individual-sized pot
Kare Rice (see also curry) - Introduced from UK in the late 19th century, it became a staple food in Japan
Hayashi Rice - thick beef stew on rice; origin of the name is unknown, but may be "hashed rice"
Om-rice (Omu-raisu オムライス) - omelette filled with fried rice, apparently originating from Tokyo

Sashimi

Sashimi is raw, thinly sliced foods served with a dipping sauce and simple garnishes; usually fish or shellfish but can be almost anything including beef, horse and chicken.

Basashi - sliced horse meat, sometimes called Sakura
Fugu - sliced poisonous pufferfish (sometimes lethal), a uniquely Japanese specialty. The chef responsible for preparing it must be licenced.
Rebasashi - usually liver of beef
Shikasashi - sliced deer meat, a rare delicacy in certain parts of Japan

Sushi

Sushi is vinegared rice topped or mixed with various fresh ingredients, usually fish or seafood.

Nigirizushi - This is sushi with the ingredients on top of a block of rice.
Makizushi - Translated as "roll sushi," this is where rice and seafood or other ingredients are placed on a sheet of seaweed (nori) and rolled into a cylindrical shape on a bamboo mat and then cut into smaller pieces.
Temaki - Basically the same as makizushi, except that the nori is rolled into a cone-shape with the ingredients placed inside.
Chirashi - Translated as "scattered", chirashi involves fresh sea food, vegetables or other ingredients being placed on top of sushi rice in a bowl or dish.