2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
You can bring a little Japanese atmosphere to your home if you imagine that you are surrounded by seas and mountains and get acquainted with the traditional culinary techniques and recipes that Japan is proud of.
Natural selection
Japanese cuisine follows the seasons - vegetables and spices change, dishes also change throughout the year. In the spring, bamboo sprouts sprout, which are used in many spring dishes. Autumn is the season of large mushrooms called matsutake, while winter is a favorite of delicious and filling sukiyaki.
Nutrition culture
The procedure is very important - guests receive wet warmed towels to wipe their hands before eating. The Japanese sit cross-legged in front of low tables and eat with traditional cutlery, usually decorated and varnished. But everyone who uses these utensils should know what not to do on the table - they should not lick, the food should not be stabbed with their tips, the bite should not be transferred from one pair of sticks to another. If you do that in Japan, it's like serving peas to your mouth with a knife in Europe!
Products
An indispensable part of the successful preparation of Japanese dishes is serving. So always look for fresh and good looking products.
Spices
The taste of Japanese dishes is determined by the many basic spices. One of the most used is miso, fermented soybean paste. Its light varieties are the basis of miso soup and some sauces, and the dark varieties are more suitable for thick soups and stews. The yellow version is the most common and is used in everyday cooking.
Mirin is a sweet light rice wine, often added to sauces or as a spice to broth. There are two types of soy sauce, shoyu - light and dark. Light is more preferred in Japan because it does not change the color of the dishes. Dashi is a broth of two varieties that are used for light soups and stews.
Sesame oil is used sparingly to flavor food. Wasabi is a Japanese version of horseradish, goes very well with sushi and sashimi.
Fresh ginger root plays an important role in Japanese cuisine.
Noodles
Somen is a very thin white wheat noodle. Serve chilled in summer. Shirataki - white waterfall, is a transparent noodle, Harusame - spring rain, is a fine, almost transparent noodle, sometimes called cellophane noodle, which is made from rice or potato flour. Used in dishes cooked in a pot, but should be soaked 5 minutes before use. If you want to put a more filling noodles in the dish, take udon wheat noodles.
Drinks
Sake, the national drink, is made from fermented and steamed white rice. It should be drunk at a temperature slightly above body temperature. It is also used in cooking. The preferred tea is green. Whiskey is also popular in Japan.
Techniques and tips
In Japan, the products are prepared quickly to prevent boiling, frying or toasting, so their taste is preserved and they remain as close as possible to their natural state.
Raw food has a central place in Japanese cuisine. The fish dish sashimi is prepared without heat treatment, raw fish is the main ingredient in one of the most popular national dishes - sushi.
Cooking over low heat (nimono)
This method of cooking is widely used throughout Japan, but since food must retain its structure, always cook for a short time and over a very low heat. Cooking over a low heat rather helps the taste of the spices to penetrate the products and is not so important for cooking the products themselves. The same goes when you cook fish, chopped meat or poultry.
A special Japanese appliance, called an otoshi-buta, is very useful for cooking over low heat. This is a wooden lid with a diameter slightly smaller than that of the pot. The products are covered with it and he keeps them completely immersed in the broth. This way the taste is preserved to the maximum.
Steam cooking (mushimono)
Quite in the spirit of Japanese cuisine, steaming helps to preserve the taste and structure of the products, and also enhances their color. The special steamer is made of bamboo or metal. Steamed Japanese food is served with a melting sauce that gives it extra flavor.
Grilling (yakimono)
A very hot grill is needed for this purpose. The Japanese style of baking requires the surface to be sealed so that moisture does not evaporate. Japanese chefs bake on charcoal because that's how they get the heat they need.
The stringing of skewers facilitates the turning of the products and helps to keep the shape.
Cooking in a pot (nabemono)
So you can cook directly on the table - for example, fondue, as well as stewed.
Frying in a pan
Light oil, such as soybean, peanut or sunflower, is used for this purpose. The products (meat, poultry, game, vegetables) are cut into thin strips. The food is fried quickly so that it does not lose its taste.
Dashi
This fish and seaweed soup is a typical dish in Japanese cuisine. It is found in concentrated form in Japanese food stores.
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