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Ramen
Ramen - thin, yellow wheat noodles that were originally imported
from China - are now considered to be Japan's true national
dish. Ramen is an amalgam of the Chinese word ra, meaning
to stretch, and men, the Japanese suffix for noodles. Ramen
became very popular after World War Two when meat was scarce.
Ramen noodles are eaten as the base of a soup. The soup is
comprised of a variety of bases and toppings. The bases have
fairly subtle flavours which vary regionally. The four basic
types are shoyu-ramen (soy ramen) from Tokyo,
shio-ramen (salt ramen) and miso-ramen
(ramen in miso broth) from Sapporo, and tonkotsu-ramen
(ramen in white pork broth) from Kyushu. Common toppings are
barbequed pork, vegetables, or wonton dumplings.
The etiquette of eating ramen is that you actually slurp
the noodles. This isn't a sign of appreciation but shows that
eating the noodles is more important than being polite.
Outside of Japan dehydrated instant ramen that have become
hugely popular under a variety of brands. Serious ramen addicts
should pay a visit to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum,
in the city of Yokohama, where you can try ramen from every
region of Japan.
Miso
Miso is fermented soya beans; the type and flavor of the
miso is dependent on the stage of fermentation reached (which
ranges from a few weeks to a few years) and the quantity of
other ingredients that are added. These additives include
moogi (barley), rice, and specific bacteria which produce
enzymes that break down the soya bean in different ways. The
flavour of the miso is very regional and can be likened to
the regional varieties of wine or cheese in Europe. Miso paste
comes in four different variations - red, white, barley, and
soybean - which can be used in soups, stir-fry, stews, marinades,
salad dressings, seasoning, sauces, and spreads.
Dashi
Dashi, essentially a stock, is made from one of four different
ingredients. Two are vegetarian -konbu (dried
kelp) and hoshi-shiitake (dried shiitake
mushrooms) - and two are fish - katsuo-bushi
(dried fish flakes) and niboshi (small dried
sardines). Once the stocks are cooked they are drained to
remove the original ingredients. The stocks are then used
to make soups like miso soup or simmered
dishes called nimono.
Seaweed
Living on an island, seaweed has always been a plentiful
resource and the Japanese have perfected various ways of cooking
it over several thousands of years. For the 1,200 years Japan
was a Buddhist country, it was prohibited to eat meat and
fish so nutrient-rich vegetarian options had to be sought
out. Kelp harvesting is a very slow physical activity.
Bonito
Bonito is dried fish flakes that resemble wood shavings.
Katsobushi, as the flakes are known, is a
staple ingredient in Japanese cuisine which often has a smoky
flavour giving it the nickname 'bacon of the sea'. A little
bit of bonito goes a long way. To produce the bonito flakes,
the bonito fish, a dark oily fish related to mackerel, is
first boiled, then smoked, and finally sun-dried. A special
implement is then used to flake the now very hard chunks of
fish. The flakes tend to be sprinkled over sautéed
vegetables, seaweed salads, and often combined with dashi
to make soups or stews.
Rice Vinegar
There are many different types of rice vinegars. In the same
way that olives are pressed to give different qualities of
oil, there are different levels of pressings for rice. The
first pressing produces the extra virgin rice vinegar.
There are two distinct types of Japanese rice vinegars: one
is made by fermenting rice and the other is by adding rice
vinegar to sake (rice wine). Whether or not
the rice has been hulled also produces different types of
vinegar. Gang-Mi is produced from wholegrain
rice and has the same status among Japanese chefs as Champagne
to winemakers. Some rice vinegars are even intended to be
drunk.
Japanese rice vinegars have a less pungent taste compared
to western vinegars and they are milder than Chinese white
rice vinegar. It is commonly used to season sushi rice or
on salads. Seasoned rice vinegars, usually flavoured with
sugar and salt, are used to save time in sushi preparation.
Soba Noodles
Soba noodles are thin, brown buckwheat flour noodles. The
most common soba noodle dish is kake soba
(soba in broth). Kake soba consists of cooked soba noodles
in a bowl of hot soup made of dashi, mirin
(a particularly sweet rice wine), and shoyu
(Japanese soy sauce), topped with sliced green onions. Soba
noodles are distinguished from udon or ramen by the fact that
they are named after the ingredients rather than the place
they are from. Ni-hachi (two-eight) soba
consists of two parts of wheat and eight of buckwheat.
Tofu
Tofu, made from soya beans, is bought as compacted cakes
of soya bean curd. One of Japan's most sublime creations,
the western version is never up to scratch. The best time
to get it is just after dawn when it's freshly made and still
warm. Tofu doesn't stay fresh so long, so you must ensure
that it is refrigerated in fresh water and eaten within a
couple of days.
There are several different types used for different dishes:
kinugoshi-dofu (silk tofu) is mainly used
in soups, Momen-dofu (cotton tofu) is usually
deep-fried and eaten by itself, yaki-dofu
(grilled tofu) is used in dishes that are simmered, and kinugoshi-dofu
is the softest tofu that is best eaten raw. Thinly sliced
tofu, traditionally fried in sesame oil (abura-age) is the
key ingredient in celebratory dishes. Two sushi dishes feature
tofu - chirashi zushi and inari zushi,
which and are named after the fox-deity rice god that protects
shrines across the country.
Kyoto really is the place to go for tofu - try the temple
areas of Nanzen-ji and Sagano. It's a major temple city where
Buddhism is practiced, thus 'anything with a face' cannot
be killed to be eaten, so instead the vegetarian population
have created many different types of tofu.
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