Japanese Cuisine

If I had to pick one cuisine-type to eat all the time, I would probably choose Asian food; most especially Japanese food. I love Japanese cuisine and often make dishes for me and my family. Let’s explore a little about Japanese Cuisine by looking at what I have in my kitchen, what I understand to be the philosophy of Japanese cooking, and a little bit about etiquette and ingredients.

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My Japanese Story

My culinary life experience, which means what I learned while living in these countries, is broken into three influential parts. First is European, from Germany to Mediterranean influences; second is Asian and Southeast Asian, especially Japanese influences; third is American, and especially Tex-Mex with some Southern influences

As I have stated, I lived in Japan for a number of years as a child and have many memories of my time there. From visiting and tasting raw sugar cane in the fields, to buying foods at colorful veggie and cold frenetic fish markets, to surviving a typhoon. Along the way, I acquired certain cooking habits, and appreciation for certain flavors, textures, and aromas.

However, I never liked Nattō no matter how many times a family friend, Haruko, would offer to make breakfast with it.

My Kitchen

My kitchen is full of Japanese food stuffs and condiments that I use regularly in my cooking. If you were to go into my kitchen right now, here is what you would find:

• Pantry:
  • Dried food such as Pastas (ramen, soba, and udon)
  • Packages of bonito, seaweed, kelp
  • Dried shiitake and wood ear mushrooms.
  • Bottles of Genmai Su (brown rice vinegar), Tamari, and Koregusu Okinawa chili seasoning.
  • Other ingredients include panko, sesame seeds, rice flower, cornstarch, and some Dashi granules, in case I run out of my home made broth.
  • Right now I do not have the purple yams in my pantry, but it usually have a couple.
• Kitchen counters:
  • Seasoned rice vinegar, and sesame oil.
  • Spices and seasonings like homemade Furikake, and Togarashi Seasoning.
  • Starches like short grain white rice, and Sushi rice.
• Kitchen drawers:
  • Japanese specific cookware, a bamboo Sushi making kit, and bamboo steamers
  • I also favor wooden utensils, a preference I picked up in Japan.
• My freezer:
  • Frozen homemade awase-dashi (ichiban-dashi and niban-dashi) and some Gyoza.
• My fridge:
  • Wasabi (from Japan), various miso, pickled ginger, Mirin, and Kewpie mayo.
  • But also I have a couple of packages of silky to firm tofu, and some Yuba.

Food for Belly + Soul

Cooking Japanese food, to me, is a very mindful series of actions where the smallest amount of time is spent actually cooking, the majority of time is spent prepping and serving. I find that I tend to slow down when cooking Japanese food, I take more care to cut the food just so, mix the seasoning to taste exactly like I want, and create the dish with an eye to balance of flavors, aromas, colors, and textures.

Japanese food is all about the quality of ingredients, using cooking techniques specific for that food, meticulous preparation, and artistic presentation. Eating is not done for speed, or just to fill one’s belly. It is to satisfy hunger sure, but also needs to fit with the season, and importantly must please one’s senses. That is how I learned to approach Japanese food.

I always pause when eating this cuisine as well, to appreciate the service, and attention to detail. The food is, traditionally, artistically arranged so that it often calms the heart to sit and just appreciate the dishes that have been presented.

Mindful eating means to take reasonable sized bites, so that your body can appreciate the food it is being presented. This also allows you the opportunity to recognize when you are no longer hungry. The goal is to eat until the hunger dissipates, then stop. Not eat till you are full.

In this modern world, this is probably a way of approaching food that seems rather old fashioned. Everyone now in Japan, and all over the world, seems to be in a hurry, gobbling down instant and unhealthy foods, often in their attempts to go nowhere in particular, but very fast. As I said, this is just the way I was taught, many decades ago.

Japanese Cooking + Eating

The typical Japanese meal may consist of a bowl of white rice, a bowl of miso soup, a small bowl of pickled vegetables, and a meat or fish course (these days more meat than fish it seems).

There are five main cooking methods in Japan, but I have added fermenting because this is an important cooking method as well.

• Namamono (raw)
• Mushimono (steamed)
• Nimono (simmered)
• Yakimono (broiled)
• Agemono (deep-fried)
• + my addition of Hakkō (fermenting)

Japanese Eating

If going to Japan, it goes a long way to read up proper etiquette, and to practice using chopsticks so they are used properly in public. Showing respect to the culture of the country being visited will make any trip more enjoyable. It shows appreciation to the people who prepared and served your meal.

I do not want to go into too much detail here, just know that etiquette varies by country and you need to learn the rules of the country you are visiting. Not all Asian countries share the same etiquette rules.

• One of the best sites I found on eating propery is from the Japan-Guide and JustOneCookbook.
• Learn to eat with chopsticks and there are dos and don’ts with using chopsticks
• Sushi has its own etiquette and Americans generally have it wrong
• Read up on eating noodle soups etiquette regarding slurping, drinking from bowls, etc.
• The towel presented at the start of the meal is just for your hands, no other part of your body.
• Unless you have an allergy, eat what you are given.
• Once done eating, put the dishes back into place as they were presented to you. Which includes putting the chopsticks back into the packaging if you can.

Table Settings

Table settings in Japan strike me as mindful as the cooking. I view the setting as seeking visual and texture harmony with a mix of plates, bowls, chopstick rests, and tea cups, all in coordination with the seasons and set by tradition.

Japanese Food + Meals

Fish + Sea Veggies I Use Often

Being a series of islands, Japan is reliant on the ocean for its food. They eat all parts of the food the catch or harvest, and fish or sea food has been, historically, the main source of protein and vitamins and minerals.

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. They look like 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. In fact, when I lived in Japan as a child, I would eat rice topped with bonito for breakfast. I still like this dish and find it so simple and flavorful. (See how Bonito Flakes are made.)

I also like to eat other fish, here is a recipe for Teriyaki Salmon Bowl.

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 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. 

• 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.”  

Noodles

Japan makes several types of noodles, all of which I have in my pantry right now: ramen, soba, and udon. The broths can be dashi, miso, soy-based, beef, chicken, pork, turkey or duck. Noodle soups are eaten with chopsticks, broth is eaten with a Chinese spoon or sipped out of the bowl.

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.

Rice is the fundamental staple in Japanese cooking. Short grain white rice, and Japanese sushi rice are 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.

Meals are generally rice-centric and any other plate of food is considered a side dish (okazu).

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.

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.

Soups

I make my own Dashi in a big pot and freeze what I do not use immediately. It is crucial to any Japanese soups I may make.

Here is a link to a quick version of Miso Ramen Soup, but I have just finished a Global Instant Noodles + Soup review that features packages from all over Asia and Southeast Asia so check that out for additional comments.

Soy Sauce or Tamari Sauce

I usually use Tamri in my cooking unless I am making a specific Chinese dish. 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, so if buying local brands make sure it is organic and Non-GMO soybeans.

Here is a recipe for my Tamari-Glazed Bonito Rice.

Tofu

I use tofu in my cooking either as the main protein source or hidden in the dish. I always have one silky and one firm pacakage of tofu on hand, and occasionally I have tofu sheets, called Yuba as well. Tother they help me make vegan and vegatarian dishes when I need to.

Here is a recipe for Shichimi Togarashi Baked Tofu that I enjoy having.

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.

In closing

I want to share one of the websites I follow: JustOneCookBook. There is so much to Japanese cuisine, that even one website dedicated to it cannot capture it all.

I hope I have given you a sense of how to approach this long and storied culture of food.

— Patty

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