Japan

History of Japanese Cuisine

• Developed over the
past 2,000 years with
strong influences from
both China and Korea
• Only in the last 300-400
years have all the
influences come
together to form what
we now know as
Japanese cuisine
 History of Japanese Cuisine
• Known for its emphasis
on seasonality of food,
quality of ingredients and
presentation
• Buddhism also played a
major part in the
development of
Japanese cuisine
because for a time they
prohibited the eating of
mammals except fish
 History of Japanese Cuisine
• Rice came from Korea
400 years ago and all
the rice growing
techniques
• Rice was also made
into paper, wine, fuel,
and building materials
• Short-grain rice has
been the only type of
rice grown in Japan
 History of Japanese Cuisine
• Soy beans and
wheat also were
introduced within
this time
• Rice and soy bean
products are such
an integral part of
Japanese cooking
 History of Japanese Cuisine
• Tea and chopsticks
were also
introduced
 History of Japanese Cuisine
• The lack of meats
minimized spice
utilization
• Pepper, garlic and
other spices were
just medicinal
• Fish was a
significant source of
food
 History of Japanese Cuisine
• Preserving fish became a popular and
sushi originated as a means of preserving
fish by fermenting it in boiled rice
• Fish are salted and placed in rice by lactic
acid fermentation
 History of Japanese Cuisine
• By the 15th century
the fermentation
method of sushi was
cut into one or two
weeks
• Sushi then became
a snack food
combining fish with
rice
 Foreign Influences
• Portuguese,
followed by the
Dutch began to
introduce foods that
were adopted by the
Japanese
• Fried foods like
tempura, not so
Japanese in
characteristic
 Meiji
• The general
population started
to eat meat again
after the Meiji
Restoration which
occurred in 1867.
Cuisine of Japan
 Cuisine of Japan
• Complete aesthetic
experience
• Delight for the eyes,
the nose and the
palate
• Desire to enhance
rather than to alter
 Cuisine of Japan
• Inspired the
presentation of
French Nouvelle
Cuisine
 Domestic Food
• Dominated by white
rice, very few meals are
without it
• Rice or noodles are
served with okazu (fish,
meat, vegetables
flavored with dashi,miso
& soy sauce),
tsukemono (pickled
vegetables) are side
dishes
• Side dishes are served
to complement the rice
 Essential Japanese Ingredients
• Short or medium
grain rice

Gohan or Meshi – boiled plain

rice
 Vegetables
• Spinach
• Cucumbers
• Eggplants
• Daikon
• Sweet potato
• Renkon (lotus root)
• Bamboo shoots
• Green onion
 Mushrooms and Tsukemono vegetables

• Pickled vegetables
 Noodles
• Udon, somen and
ramen, soba
 Seaweeds

• Nori
 Essential Japanese Flavorings
• Shoyu (soy sauce) - Kikkoman
• Dashi (flavoring powder) – stock made from kelp
and bonito shavings
• Mirin (Sweet rice wine)
• Mitsukan (rice vinegar)
• Miso (bean paste),
• Sake (rice liquor)
• Konbu (seaweed or kelp), Katsuoboshi (dried
skipjack tuna flake), Niboshi (seaweed)
 Other ingredients
• Onion, garlic, leek, chive, shallot – all
discouraged in Buddhism but very much
welcome in modern Japan
• Sesame seeds, sesame oil, sesame salt,
furikake (combination of dashi, seaweed and
other spices to top rice), walnuts and peanuts
• Wasabi (horseradish) Mustard, red pepper,
ginger and citrus leaves
Famous Dishes
 Terms for Japanese dishes
• Itamemono – stir-fried
• Donburi – one bowl dish
• Mushimono – steamed
• Agemono – deep fried
• Nabemono – stews and soups
• Wagashi – Japanese-style sweets
• Yakimono - grilled and pan-fried
 Deep fried dishes or Agemono

• Korroke (potato
croquette)
• Tempura
• Tonkatsu
 Donburi – one bowl dish
• Katsudon,
Oyakudon, Gyudon
• Tempuradon
 Yakimono (grilled and pan-fried
dishes)
• Gyoza
• Hamachi kama
• Teriyaki
• Unagi
• Yakitori
 Nabemono (soup and stews)

• Sukiyaki
• Shabu shabu
• Motsunabe
 Noodles
• Soba – thin
buckwheat noodles
served chilled
• Ramen – thin light
yellow noodle served
in broth
• Udon – thick wheat
noodles with soup a
and seafood
• Somen – thin white
wheat noodles
served chilled with a
dipping sauce
 Noodles
• Champon - yellow
noodles of medium
thickness
• Okinawa soba – wheat
flour noodle served with
pork
• Yakisoba – fried
Chinese noodles
• Yakiudon – fried udon
noodles
 Other Foods
• Agedashi tofu
• Bento
• Mochi
• Kamameshi
• Kare Rice
• Chawan mushi
 Bento
• Complete meal in a
box
 Suimono and Shurimuno
• Miso Soup
• Dangojiru
• Sumashijiru
 Sushi
• Nigiri – on top of a
block of rice.
• Makizushi – “roll sushi”
• Temaki – cone shaped
– Hand-roll sushi
• Chirashi - seafood on
top a bowl of rice
– Means “scattered”
Dining Etiquette
• Chopsticks are never left
sticking vertically into rice
• Noodles are slurped
• Soy sauce should never be
poured onto rice or soup
• Eat rice to the last grain
• Drinking alcohol starts with a
toast