Our last blog: Reflection

 We enjoyed blogging. Blogging is an easy way to write about how you feel or even new information you have learned. The Japenese culture was very interesting to learn about. A profuse amount of their foods are well known in the American society. Fried rice and sushi are just a couple of  common dishes . There are many restaurants in Georgia that are considered to be of the Japenese culture. Tokyo, Mo Mo Ya, Sumo, and The Golden Budha  consist of Japenese style food. The japanese culture is alot different from the American culture. They have different beliefs and we study different things .

Traditional meals and Religious practices :

 Usually in the Americans' way of life, the traditional food to eat on New Years is Turkey or a type of game meat. But in the Japanese New Year, the  food is called osechi-ryori, and colorful osechi-ryori dishes are packed in layers of lacquer boxes, called jubako. Each dish and ingredient in osechi has meaning, such as good health, fertility, good harvest, happiness, long life, and so on. The kinds of osechi dishes eaten at Japanese homes vary from region to region.

It's a Japanese tradition to eat osechi-ryori throughout the New Year's holidays (until Jan. 3.) Traditionally, people finish cooking osechi dishes by New Year's Eve so that they have food for a couple days without cooking. Most of the dishes can last a couple days in the refrigerator or at cool room temperature. Nowadays, people buy ready-made osechi dishes at stores instead of cooking them at home. It can be time-consuming to cook so many kinds of dishes. You can even order a set of osechi-ryori at department stores, grocery stores, or convenience stores.

Jubako

• Osechi ryori, (New Year’s cuisine) is preserved food and is intended to last for several days.
• Osechi is richly fortified with cultural metaphor and visual symbolism

Japenese common cooking methods and seasonings

Stir-frying and grilling with a light glaze of soy sauce and sugar or vinegar are common cooking techniques
 steaming, deep-frying, and poaching are also other ways the Japanese culture cooks
There are many variations of one-pot cooking; a variety of vegetables, tofu or meat are beautifully arranged and lightly simmered in a pot of broth.
Another way to prepare food is through table top fondues (nabemono). Diners share the pot, dip meat and vegetables in a hot liquid -- a broth or oil. At times, the ingredients are all prepared then served family style.
Sukiyaki is another table-top preparation. Meat, vegetables, tofu or noodles are stir-fried and put in in a broth of sake, soy sauce, sugar and mirin (sweet rice wine) -- then garnished with grated daikon, scallions, and maybe some sesame or citrus dipping sauces. Before eating, diners dip each bite into beaten raw egg



Nabemono



Sukiyaki



Spices and Seasonings

Japanese cuisine uses the following five basic flavours;
1.salt
2.sugar
3.vinegar
4.soya sauce
5.miso
 However, as with any other cuisine there is also a range of herbs, spices and other ingredients used to enhance the flavours present in the dish.

Spices

Beni-shouga

Beni-shouga is red, salt-pickled ginger used to add flavour to okonomiyaki (a Japanese style tortilla), itame-gohan (fried rice mixed with other ingredients) and yakisoba (stir-fried noodles). The red colour is derived from red perilla or shiso.

Shouga

Root ginger is used ground in Japanese cuisine and mixed with soya to marinate pork prior to sautéing it, as the flavours of pork and ginger complement one another well. It is also served on top of a pyramid of daikon (Japanese white radish) to put in the tempura dipping sauce. Shouga is also used in okayu (rice porridge) which is eaten particularly in the winter due to its warming properties, and drunk in an infusion with honey as a medicine to alleviate high body temperatures.

Gari

Commonly known for its role in accompanying sushi, this is the thinly sliced root ginger which is pickled in vinegar and naturally turns red if it is fresh when it is pickled. Gari is used as a palette refresher between pieces of sushi but its original role in accompanying sushi was the result of its use as an antibacterial agent which helped raw fish to be eaten safely when there were no refrigeration techniques. It can also be chopped up and mixed in with sushi rice for chirashi-zushi.

Hashouga

Together with the typical root ginger which originates in China and is used in many different cuisines, Japanese cuisine uses this young ginger shoot, which looks similar to a spring onion with a white bulb graduating to green leaves. It can be eaten raw, or pickled in vinegar, the white bulb turning pink when pickled.

Myouga

One of the most distinctive flavours in Japanese cuisine, this very attractive bud is also used as a decoration. If blanched in salted, boiling water and then placed in vinegar it becomes an attractive red colour. It can then be used as a garnish or as a sushi topping. However, it is also used as a raw ingredient for tempura, as sunomono (food pickled in vinegar), as a spice in sauces or with cold soba or somen noodles in the summer when it is in season.

Wasabi

The root of a plant in the cabbage family which is similar to horseradish but with more of a pungent aroma. The natural, unprocessed form of wasabi is made by grinding the root on shark skin, the natural spice and fragrance being brought out to the full when it is then mashed with the back of a knife. Wasabi is sold in various forms in the United Kingdom; powdered, frozen and as a paste. Frozen wasabi solely consists of the wasabi root, but the powdered and paste wasabi contains horse radish amongst other ingredients. Its main use in Japanese cuisine is as an accompaniment to sushi and sashimi. However, at Matsuri restaurants we mix it with double cream and soya sauce to make a delicious dip for teppan-yaki dishes.

Seasonings

Yuzu

Kiyuzu “Yellow yuzu” is a yellow citrus fruit originating in China which is ripe throughout autumn and winter. The fruit is at its best when it is yellow but can also be used when it is green (and unripe), however, it does not have such a strong aroma in its green state.
This fruit is valued for the strong flavour of its rind (and it is usually only the rind which is used as the juice has little flavour). It is utilised in soya sauce as a dressing, in nabe (Japanese stew), or for sushi, sashimi and fish dishes (where the fish is marinated in a yuzu and soya sauce mix and grilled). Yuzu is also used to give an extra dimension of flavour to pepper, soya sauce, miso and vinegar. It has recently become so popular that it is now the main flavour in a wide range of sweets.







The Basics

The typical Japanese meal consists of a bowl of rice (gohan), a bowl of miso soup (miso shiru), pickled vegetables (tsukemono) and fish or meat. While rice is the staple food, several kinds of noodles (udon, soba and ramen) are cheap and very popular for light meals. As an island nation, the Japanese take great pride in their seafood. A wide variety of fish, squid, octopus, eel, and shellfish appear in all kinds of dishes from sushi to tempura.

Many foods originated from the Japanese culture, and they have westernized into the American culture:

• Sushi (California Rolls)
• Raman noodles
• Teriyaki
• Panko Crumbs (bread crumbs)
• Rice

Fun Facts:

1. Vending machines in Japan sell beer, hot and cold canned coffee, cigarettes, and other items
2. Raw horse meat is a popular food in Japan
3. Ovens are not very common in Japanese kitchens, but most households own a rice cooker
4. It is not uncommon to eat rice at every meal, including breakfast
5. Noodles, especially soba (buckwheat), are slurped very loudly when eaten. It is often said slurping symbolizes the food is delicious, but the slurping also serves to cool down the hot noodles for eating
6. whale meat is a common food in Japan

The typical meal schedule for the Japenese culture is similar of  those that consist of the American society. Breakfast is  early in the morning, between 6 and 7 am, because most Japanese have long commutes to work, or start school early.
Lunch is normally 12-1. In offices, many people bring lunch or buy take-out lunch and eat the office.
Dinner is somewhere in the 6-8pm range, depending on schedules.
The times may range on the different families schedules


 

The Japan Region

Japan is located in Eastern Asia, an island (archipelago) chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan .
The Japan climate varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in the north.
Spring is known to be the best season in Japan.