FOOD
Japanese
food is never more than lightly cooked, the ideal being
to do only what is necessary to bring out the natural
flavors of ingredients. Cooked fish is moist and flaky,
while chicken is slightly pink near the bone. Vegetables
remain crisp and retain their colors. Even when deep
fried, food is not allowed to become greasy: oil is
heated enough to seal the meat and vegetables. Two liquid
ingredients are central to most dishes: a light stock
called dashi made from giant kelp (konbu) and dried
bonito shavings (Katsuobushi); and Japanese soy sauce,
called shoyu. 
The Traditional Japanese Breakfast
Breakfast is a filling and salty meal, with fish,
rice, pickles,
natto (fermented soybeans, disliked
by some), miso, omelet, grilled and salted fish, may
be a simmered dish, and strips of seaweed.
Kare raisu ("curry rice") is a sweet, mild
Japanese-style
curry served throughout the land. It
is accompanied by
pickled ginger and pickled scallions
(rakkyo).
Shabu-shabu is a winter dish cooked in a nabe (hot
pot) by diners themselves at the table. From two plates
of raw beef
and vegetables the beef with chopsticks.
Donburi is a deep-filled-all-in-one rice bowl dish.
Oyako
donburi, meaning "mother and child,"
contains chicken and egg.
Gyoza are Chinese-style dumplings filled with minced
pork, cabbage, and onions, either steamed of deep
fried.
Soba noodles are made of brown buckwheat. For the
classic zarusoba dish, cold soba covered with shreds
of nori (sea weed) are placed on a bamboo rack.
Udon noodles are thick, white wheat noodles, simmered
in a broth with a softly poached egg and kamaboko
fish-paste roll.
Ramen are Chinese-style noodles in a pork or chicken
broth and maybe naruto fish-paste rill, pickled bamboo,
and beansprouts.
Chawan mushi is a thick egg custard steamed in a
small lidded pot with vegetables, shrimp, and other
seafood.
Yakitori is skewered, grilled chicken coated with
a sweet sauce. Shichimi and sansho pepper accompany
it.
Tempura was originally a Portuguese dish of battered,
deep-fried vegetables and kuruma ebi (large shrimp).
Yudogu is a tofu (beancurd) dish, in which large
cubes of tofu are simmered in a mild broth with kelp.
Shojin ryori restaurants often serve it.
Tonkatsu is a fried, breaded pork cutlet, with cabbage
and a version of English Worcestershire ("usuta")
sauce.
Temaki-zushi is rolled by hand into a large cone shape.
Hoso-maki, or thin-rolled sushi, has one central ingredient at its core. It is rolled into a cylindrical shape with the help of a bamboo mat.
Ura-maki, or reverse rolls, are made so that the sushi rice, rather than the nori, forms the outside of the cylinder.
The Bento Box Bento is an all-in-one lunch box with separate compartments
for different morsels. The classic makunouchi bento
originated as refreshment during the intervals between
Kabuki plays. In restaurants, red and black lacquered
boxes tend to be used; cardboard and plastic boxes
are a take-away version.
Sushi and Sashimi Newcomers to Japan are often both fascinated and intimidated
by these native dishes. The term "sushi"
applies to a variety of dishes in which cold, lightly
sweetened and vinegared sushi rice is topped or wrapped
up with raw fish or other items such as pickles, cooked
fish, and meat. Sliced fillets of raw fish served
without rice are called sashimi. Even those visitors
used to Japanese restaurants abroad may be surprised
at how ubiquitous such foods are in Japan. There is
no need to worry unduly about hygiene: Japan's highly
trained chefs always use fresh fish, and the vinegar
in sushi rice is a preservative.
Nigiri-zushi Thin slices of raw fish are laid over molded fingers
of sushi rice with a thin layer of wasabi (green horseradish)
in between. Using chopsticks or fingers, pick up a
piece, dip the fish lightly in soy sauce, and consume
in one mouthful.
Chirashi-zushi
The "scattered" style of sushi involves
a colorful combination of toppings arranged artfully
with a deep bed of cold sushi rice. There are two
main regional variations. In Tokyo, slices of raw
fish, fish roe, chunks of omelet, and other raw or
cooked vegetables are placed on top of the rice. In
Osaka, the fish and vegetable toppings are cooked,
then mixed with the rice and overlaid with strips
of omelet.
Maki-zushi "Rolled" sushi is becoming increasingly
familiar outside Japan - the California roll, for
instance, is a version using avocado and other non-Japanese
ingredients. For maki-zushi the sushi rice is combined
with slivers of fish, pickles, or other morsels, and
rolled up in a sheet of toasted seaweed (nori).
Sashimi Sliced fillets of the freshest uncooked fish may be
served as a single course. Sashimi is delicate and
creamy, and the only accompaniments should be soy
sauce, wasabi, daikon, and maybe a shiso leaf.
Wagashi
Wagashi is variously translated as Japanese sweets,
confections, cakes, or candy, but in Japan is a more
serious style of food than suggested by suck translations.
The delicate-looking confections, often made of sweet
bean-paste, are traditionally associated with the
tea ceremony, being served immediately before the
tea. They are also sold as gifts. There are numerous
regional variations and specialties for each season.
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