Posted on May 26th, 2009 at 6:11 pm by keikokeiko and
Welcome to 日本料理 (Nihon Ryōri), my Japanese recipe blog!
I will be posting Japanese recipes and the ryōri’s social, cultural, and historical backgrounds.
ありがっと, みんな〜 (Thanks, everyone!)
About Nihon Ryōri (or Washoku) and Yōshoku
The modern term “Japanese cuisine” (nihon ryōri, 日本料理 or washoku, 和食, lit. Japanese cuisine) refers to traditional-style Japanese food, similar to the style prior to end of national seclusion in 1868. In a broader sense of the word, it could also include foods that uses ingredients or cooking methods introduced from abroad but have been modified by the Japanese.
Japanese cuisine is based on combining staple foods (shushoku, 主食), typically rice or noodles, with a soup, and okazu (おかず) – small side dishes made from fish, meat, vegetable, tofu and the like, designed to add flavor. A standard Japanese meal generally consists of several different side dishes accompanying a bowl of cooked white Japanese rice (gohan, 御飯), a bowl of soup, and some tsukemono (pickles).
Addition to washoku, the Japanese also commonly eat yōshoku (洋食, lit. Western cuisine), which were invented in the wake of the 1868 Meiji restoration and the end of national seclusion, when the sudden influx of foreign (in particular, western) culture led to many restaurants serving western food. Restaurants that serve these foods are called yōshokuya (洋食屋), lit. Western cuisine restaurants. Many yōshoku items from that time have been adapted to a degree that they are now considered Japanese and are an integral part of Japanese food culture.
Japanese cuisine is known for it’s emphasis on the appearance (presentation), quality of ingredients, acknowledgment of texture and taste, and its unique attitude toward food. Unlike many other Asian countries, Japanese cuisine insist on small portions being cut into bite-sized pieces. In Japan, food everywhere must be presentable. Similar to the Japanese aesthetic concept of negative space in sumi-e (blank ink painting) or ikebana (flower arranging), the art of Japanese cuisine considers opposite color, negative space, and asymmetrical balance. Japanese cuisine emphasizes seasonality of food as there are specific ingredients that are served depending on the season. Eggplant is best savored in summer, while spinach and other greens are for winter. Trout is a spring and the troutlike ayu an early summer fish, while no nabemono (one-pot meal) is edible in the summer. While most foods in the world focus on the taste of the foods, Japanese cuisine highly regards texture as well. Konnyaku (devil’s tongue jelly) and sashimi (raw fish), for instance, might not taste like anything, yet its chewy or melting textures matter. The presentational cuisine shows its attitude towards food as it insists upon freshness and naturalness and the cuisine itself “depends upon the Japanese attitude toward the environment, toward nature itself.”
Sources:
Donald Richie, A Taste of Japan