Cuisine of Japan (It's Not Just Sushi)

Part II, Most Everything Else:

I'm bound to forget something, or not have time for something, so I'm qualifying the above sub-header.

What we think of as Japanese cuisine is in most particulars rather modern. It was the last three or perhaps four hundred years that brought the elements that make it up, together. Influences from other countries were important - China, Korea, Portugal, Holland, and more. When Japan became a primarily-Buddhist nation in the 6th century, meat was eschewed and even banned. There were periods where fish itself was not consumed. Meat was not eaten again for centuries, although in the mountains sometimes hunters would take and eat deer. Dairy products were not eaten, either - the cattle in Japan were used as animals who would plow fields. The Shinto -- the original faith in Japan - eventually also frowned on the eating of meat. By the ninth century, all mammals (except the whale, which they regarded as a fish) were officially banned as food sources, and this ban extended to many birds, some of which were sacred in the Shinto religion.

The only record of limited dairy products being consumed occurred during the eighth through the fourteenth centuries, then this use drops from the records. Due to the lack of needing to cook these items, cooking with oils was unheard of in traditional earlier Japanese cuisines.

Meat began to be eaten upon contact with the Europeans, primarily the Dutch and the Portuguese, who early on set up trading relationships with the Japanese. Although due to the nature of the geography of the islands of Nippon, beef raising and eating never did become a dominant activity. Emperor Meiji went as far as staging a New Year's feast in 1872 to impress his European trading partners, and for the first time in many centuries, the Japanese people publically ate meat. This is, for one, the roots of yakatori, the small fragments of meat served on a skewer and cooked in a special sauce apparently developed for the yakatori.

Tempura was a development from after European contact, as oils are needed to cook the food in its delicate batter.

Fish was nearly always a popular form of protein in Japan. From early days, the coastal people ate local marine seafood, and the inland people ate freshwater fish, as fresh fish didn't transport readily. Nowadays of course, refrigeration has made it possible for anyone in Japan to taste the seafood delicacies of other regions of their country.

Spices were of minimal importance. Cloves and peppers were used from the eighth century, and garlic was known. Often, however, these spices had more medicinal purpose than culinary. I am not certain when wasabi was first cultivated, or if it was used for other than sushi-type dishes. Nowadays there are many sweet sauces in Japanese cuisine, but sugar itself was brought in by Europeans. Shoyu (soya sauce) was made from fermented soy beans. Pickled vegetables also played a role in their cuisine. These are called, generically, tsukemono, and are served at nearly every meal. A variety of vegetables were and are pickled.

Rice came from Korea circa the fourth century. Soybeans and wheat arrived from China, as did tea. So much of Japanese foods came to be based on these transplants from the rest of Asia.

Of them, rice became, and still remains, the most important food item in Japanese cuisine. The Japanese eat it daily. It can be prepared and served in many ways. White rice, boiled up in the usual way; rice noodles; miso (a flavorant, and common as the base for miso soup); mochi (rice cakes, sweetened); and senbei (a rice cracker) are all common foodstuffs. Then, there's saki, or rice wine. Rice as rice would be typically served for breakfast as the main dish, sometimeswith a raw egg and soya sauce mixed in. At the other two meals of the day, it would be a side dish, often plain. Domburi is rice with other food served on top: for instance, tempura or beef, or egg and chicken. Onigiri are rice balls wrapped with nori seaweed, and may contain other foods within, often pickled Japanese apricot, or some form of fish. Kare Raisu, a modern development, is curried rice. Kayu is a gruel formed from rice.

Before the mid 1800's, rice was used instead of money. Feudal rank was determined by the amount of rice feudal lords could lay claim to. RIce also was pressed - literally - into service to make paper.

Nabe is a type of dish made in a hot pot, and often cooked at the dining table. Vegetables dominate in many regional forms of nabe - items such as Japanese leek or Chinese cabbage may be included. Mushrooms and seafood (or, sometimes, meat) may be included.

We cannot sell short the notion of presentation. To the Japanese, the presentation of food -- how it is cut, the dishes it is served on, even the type of chopsticks used, all have their aesthetic purpose and are symbolic of the harmony of the combinations presented. The Japanese diet might be said to be presented in fives: five flavors, five colors, five methods of preparation. Flavors would be the five taste sensations we know: sweet, sour, spicy, bitter, salty. Colors: white, yellow, red, green, black. The main overall styles of preparation would be raw, boiled, grilled, deep-fried, steamed.

There are certain foods specific to holidays, and they have their traditions and meanings. A major event is the Japanese new year, Oshougatsu. The food of the season, Osechi-Ryori, is considered a tradition that dates back to the Heian era, circa 794 - 1185. Japanese New Year lasts from the first of January to January 3rd. In antiquity, this might be food prepared for the gods. Typically, it is prepared ahead of time, and placed in a five-layer lacquered box. The foods included can stay at cool temperatures throughout the celebration. Each dish in Osechi-ryori has its own meaning, important for the occasion.

Examples: As a wish for long life, Japanese yams (tororo), dried persimmon, pickled Japanese apricots, and shrimp are included in the Osechi-ryori. By the law of similarity, the wrinkled skins of the persimmon and apricots signify elderly skin on people. The yams and the shripm have beards or long hair, and further, the shrimp are bent over, like the elderly. The wish for prosperity is exemplified by including white rice, as one stalk produces many grains. The bitter orange (daidai) represents tje wosj to send our prosperity forward out to the next generations. Daidai itself means generation to generation. Herring roe might be included to wish for many offspring. The taro is also a symbol of fecundity. Five is an important number, so there might be foods to represent five overall wishes.

The Japanese don't typically serve all their styles of food within each restaurant. Instead, specialty shops serving one style or another dominate, except where tourists congregate in the larger cities. There are the sushi shops, the soba shops (food based around buckwheat noodles), udon shops (the base is white wheat flour noodles), oden shops, and the tempura shops.

Sources:

Yamasa Student Network

Asia Recipe.com

Japan Guide

Traditional Japanese Dishes

Osechi

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