Japanese Food

Asian cuisine is very popular in most parts of the world, both in authentic form and adapted to local tastes. Japanese food has many devotees in the West. Japanese restaurants are common and sushi features in lunch boxes.

The Japanese have a healthy diet on the whole and eat a lot of fish and vegetables. Some foods may be high in salt but they are low in fat. Fast food outlets have opened in the major cities and are frequented by many young people but traditional dishes are still the most popular.

There are regional variations with regard to recipes, ingredients and cooking techniques but some staples are found across the country. For the Japanese, presentation is just as important as flavor. Cooks will go to great lengths to make sure that a dish is pleasing to the eye as well as the palette. Most Japanese food is simple to prepare.

Meals usually contain rice or noodles and there are noodle bars in the West that specialize in noodle based dishes. The popular noodles are Soba, made from thin buckwheat flour, and Udon, which are thick wheat noodles. Soups are very popular and are nourishing on a cold day. There is a plentiful supply of meat, fish, vegetables and tofu. Seafood favorites are crab, roe and seaweed.

Flavor is usually obtained from Soy Sauce, Dashi or Miso. Soy Sauce is fermented from soya beans and the Japanese make several different varieties. These taste sweeter than Chinese varieties and they contain wheat.

Dashi is used as a cooking stock or the basis of a soup. Miso is a thick paste that goes into spreads, sauces, and pickling and Miso Soup is also popular. These sauces etc. give Japanese food its distinctive taste. Side dishes to Japanese food often include pickled vegetables.

The Japanese are very fond of drinking tea and there are several different kinds. Green Tea is the favorite in most homes. For alcoholic beverages, Sake is the most common and is made from rice. The beer brewing industry has become large and many beers are exported. Japanese made whiskey is also growing in popularity.

Certain dishes are served at celebratory times, such as Osechi at New Year. These are, in fact, several dishes and include fish omelets, herring roe, black soybeans, red sea bream, and sardines. The Gion Festival, which takes place every year in Kyoto, serves Chimaki, which are steamed sweet rice cakes.