In Japanese, sushi does not mean raw fish. It means seasoned rice. – Guy Fieri
Japanese Preparation
Japanese food is all about the care for food, meticulous preparation and artistic presentation. The smallest part of cooking Japanese food, is actually cooking. I always pause when eating this cuisine to appreciate the service, and attention to detail. The food is so artistically arranged it often calms the heart to sit and appreciate.
The cuisine features lots of raw food, seasonally inspired, and subtle in flavor. (Although note I have never seen raw mushrooms used.) What I do not find in Japanese food is lots of milk or coconut products or ultra sweet food. Although milk is used for the ever-growing bubble tea market, yogurt drinks, and for cakes.
Japanese Cooking Techniques
There are five main cooking methods in Japan:
- Namamono (raw)
- Mushimono (steamed)
- Nimono (simmered)
- Yakimono (broiled)
- Agemono (deep-fried)
Japanese Eating
Soups are eaten, sipped out of the bowl, at the same time as the main course. The bowl is raised to ones lips and slurped or eaten with a Chinese spoon. (In other words, do not bend down to any dish.)
Meals are generally rice-centric and any other plate of food is considered a side dish (okazu). In some areas, meals can be noodle-centric.
Traditionally, there are no saucy dishes. Usually sauces are served as a side, used for dipping food into when available.
Bonito Flakes
Wikipedia: Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. So Bonito Flakes are dried smoked bonito, known as katsuo-bushi or katsuobushi in Japanese cuisine. The sort of look like to wood shavings and add a ton of umami to a dish. I use these flakes to make Dashi and as a topping to rice and other foods.
See how Bonito Flakes are made.
Japanese Seasoning + Condiments
Aonori: Powdered nori seaweed
Bonito Flakes: Dry flaked Bonito fish
Furikake: Fried fish, dehydrated egg, shrimp, nori seaweed, ume plum. and shiso herb.
Japanese Mayonnaise: Kiwi is the brand I use
Karashi: A yellow mustard with heat of wasabi.
Matcha Salt: Matcha tea salt blend
Sansho Pepper
Shichimi Togarashi Seasoning
Tare Sauce: A dipping sauce for grilled foods.
Tsuyu Dipping Sauce: A soy sauce and dashi broth sauce.
Tonkatsu Sauce
Umeboshi Paste: Sour pickled Japanese plum mashed into a paste.
Wasabi: Japanese horseradish-like green paste
Yuzukosho: Combined yuzu citrus peel + juice, with green chilies and salt.
Rice
Rice details: The link (to the left) is to an article I wrote discussing arsenic, aluminum, proper cleaning, and various cooking techniques related to rice. Alternatives to rice are discussed as well as nutrition of various types of rice.
This is the fundamental staple in Japanese cooking. Short grain or sushi rice are the closest to the types of rice I have eaten in Japan. Short grain (Uruchimai) rice is short and plump, that when cooked clings together without being mushy. The grains have a higher starch content than regular rice. Mochigome is a sweet or glutinous rice. (Sticky rice is another thing altogether.) Sushi rice, or sumeshi, is steamed Japanese rice that is flavored with seasoned vinegar.
- Cooking Rice Japanese style: Measure and place rice in a large bowl. Add enough water to cover the rice and wash gently by swishing your hand through the rice, then discard the water. Repeat the process 4-5 times until the water is almost clear. Leave the rinsed rice in the bowl and again add enough water to cover the rice. Leave the rice to soak for ~30 minutes in the summer and up to ~1 hour in the winter. Using a sieve, drain the rice and dump the rice into a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add water and cook over medium heat with the lid on. When the water starts boiling, reduce to a simmer. Cook until there is no water at the bottom of the pot, you see the pits forming on the rice, or you don’t hear a bubbling sound from inside the pot. (I have a glass lid so can see into the pot easily.) Do not open the lid, but turn the heat off and let stand ~10 minutes. Then take off the lid and fluff the rice (to remove any excess moisture). Serve.
Saki or Mirin
Although both sake and mirin contain alcohol, mirin is for cooking, Saki can be for cooking and drinking. Sometimes both are used in a recipe. Saki has higher alcohol and lower sugar and Mirin has higher sugar and lower alcohol. In cooking Sake is often added earlier in the process, and simmers with the food to be absorbed. Mirin can be used at any time in a dish or added at the end as a glazing. I use either, depending upon what I have on hand.
Sea Veggies
FoodSafety: 2010 Hijiki seaweed has been found to contain remarkably high levels of inorganic arsenic, a chemical element that is known to greatly increase risk of cancer. Hijiki is a very dark, shredded type of seaweed traditionally eaten as an appetizer in Japanese cuisine. The survey also tested arame, kombu, nori and wakame but no inorganic arsenic was found in these types of seaweed.” I generally only cook with one of the three seaweeds/kelp listed below as they are readily available in my local stores.
Kombu
Wikipedia: Kombu is edible kelp from mostly the family Laminariaceae and is widely eaten in East Asia. It may also be referred to as dasima or haidai. Dried kombu is used to make: dashi, or veggie “dashi”, added to beans to make them digestible, and added to salads. It is mildly salty, just a tad bit sweet, and contains glutamic acid which enhances flavor and tenderizes meat.
Wakame
Wikipedia: Wakame, Undaria pinnatifida, is a species of edible seaweed, a type of marine algae, and a sea vegetable. It has a subtly sweet, but distinctive and strong flavour and texture. It is most often served in soups and salads. Sea farmers in Japan have grown wakame since the Nara period. I will add little bits of this to miso soup.
Nori
Wikipedia: Nori is the Japanese name for edible seaweed species of the red algae genus Pyropia, including P. yezoensis and P. tenera. It has a strong and distinctive flavor. It is used chiefly in Japanese cuisine as an ingredient to wrap rolls of sushi or onigiri, in which case the term refers to the dried sheets.
Seasoned/Unseasoned Rice Vinegar
There are white, red or black rice vinegars. Usually we can find white rice vinegars readily enough in the USA. Rice vinegar is made by fermenting sugars in rice into alcohol and then into acid. Seasoned white rice vinegar is made from sake, or adding sugar and salt to regular white rice vinegar. Seasoned Rice Vinegar is more flavorful and sweet (and contains calories). I use Seasoned Vinegar for salad dressing, dips, pickles, and sushi rice.
Regular rice vinegar has no sugar or salt.
Soy Sauce or Tamari Sauce
Tamari is traditionally a Japanese ingredient, and Soy Sauce is traditionally Chinese. Tamari is a byproduct of making Miso and is thicker, less salty, fermented, but contains less or no wheat (look for “gluten-free”). Soy Sauce is made by cooking soybeans with toasted wheat and other grains in a brine, then pressed to make the sauce. I use them interchangeably depending on what I am cooking, but tend to favor gluten free Tamari. I like soy sauce in dips however as it provides more of a salty bite.
Soybeans are often GMO food. Organic based soybeans should be used for Soy or Tamari sauce.