I think I am talking Japanese

This past week I have been working on some dished that are going forward for a Japanese line.  Now the thing that I always find rather hard when doing ant thing like this is just getting your head around the fine details that most of the dishes have. It seems that every thing is very fresh and clean in flavour, strong flavours that really go together.  However, the hard thing to try and under stand is the difference in the food styles and what they can all mean some times.  Not that every dish has a deep and meaningful meaning but it is some thing that as far as I can tell there are benchmarks that every one knows and expects.

First is the rice, rice is a very important part of Japanese cuisine and has been for more than 2000 years if not longer.  This can be as simple as the “Rice Bowl” a bowl of plain cooked rice is served with most Japanese meals. You can have it at breakfast sometimes mixed with a raw egg and soya sauce or with Natto , fermented soybeans, or other toppings.

Sushi is a dish which contains sushi rice, cooked rice that is prepared with sushi vinegar a little sugar and then stirred in its own steam so it becomes very sticky and easy to roll and handle.  There is all kind of variations of sushi dishes and it is not all fish despite what you might think.

Domburi is a bowl of rice cooked in a light stock.  Some other food put on top of the rice and cooked such as tempura, eggs, chicken, and beef.  As far as I understand this is a communal dish that you share with others.

Onigiri are rice balls made from cooked rice usually wrapped in seaweed. They often contain something food in the centre like pickled plum, tuna or salmon. This is more of a snack available at any number of shops or restaurants.

Then you have Kare Raisu or curry rice now this is not a actual Japanese dish as it has only been made for over a century or so but it is very popular. As to is Chahan or Fried Rice originally introduced from China.

Then you have Chazuke that is cooked in green tea and Kayu a sort of  is rice porridge but sort of  watery and  soft. Kayu is often served to people who are unwell  because it can be easily digested.

Now seafood is very important and very varied, hundreds of different dishes using  fish and shellfish. All  prepared in many different ways for  raw, dried, boiled, grilled, deep fried and  steamed.

Sashimi is raw seafood fresh and prepared correctly. Most of the time served with soya sauce and wasabi. And then you have Yakizakana , that is grilled fish and there are any number of fish dishes like this as well.

 Noodle are split in to two kinds of dished the ones that are made with traditional noodles and the ones that are not . Soba noodles are traditional  Japanese noodles made of buckwheat flour, and  Udon  are as well but ate thicker, a bit like spaghetti. All served hot or cold and with any number of toppings.

Ramen are a style of noodles that you have in soups introduced from China and you have Yakisoba  deep fried Chinese style noodles served with vegetables, meat and ginger.

Nabe is a type of  dish or hot pot prepared  usually at the table. Normally you have vegetables, mushrooms, seafood or some kind of meat cooked in a stock. Now you have any number of regional variations but are  popular in the winter months.

Any number of meat dishes are available but some of the popular ones are Yakitori, grilled chicken pieces on skewers. Tonkatsu deep fried pork cutlets normally served on shredded cabbage or rice.  Nikujaga a popular dish of meat and potatoes how native this is I do not know.

Now the Soya Bean  has any number of variations from tofu, natto, and miso and are made in any number of dishes . Every thing from Agedashi  deep fried tofu pieces that are dipped into a soya sauce before being eaten. Miso Soup often  had at  breakfast, lunch and dinner. The miso paste is desolved in water and things are added like seaweed and tofu.

Tempura  is looked at as being authentically Japanese but it was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese and now has  become one of Japan's most famous food styles.  Tempura is seafood, vegetables, mushrooms and other pieces of food coated with tempura batter and deep-fried.

In fact a large number of Western dishes have been introduced to Japan over the years. And then like most things that seem to be taken on by the Japanese made that little bit better . These kind of dishes are called Yoshoku .  They range from Korokke like a croquettes. Omuraisu rice, wrapped in an omlette served with gravy or tomato ketchup.

The truth is that Japanese cooking can run from the very specialised and extremely complicated and ritualistic to the basic street food.  But from what I have seen it has the basic corner stone of fresh clean taste.  And I know that I have probably not spelt some of the word properly and for that I apologies but I hope over then next few day to introduce some great Japanese dishes to my blog