Cooking the Japanese Way

Monday 13 December 2010

Cooking the Japanese Way

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Author(s): Reiko Weston, Publisher: Lerner Publications Company
Date: 2002, Format: PDF, Language: English, ISBN10: 0822505320, Pages: 73

When they prepare food, the Japanese use basic cooking methods that preserve or enhance the natural flavors of all the ingredients. Most of these methods are simple and easy, but they produce dishes that taste delicious and look beautiful.
One of the most common styles of Japanese cooking is called nimono. This category includes dishes that are made by gently boiling or simmering ingredients such as fish, meat, or vegetables in a seasoned broth.

Yakimono is food prepared by broiling, usually over a charcoal fire.The famous Japanese tempura—food that has been deep-fried in batter—belongs to the general group of agemono, or fried things.

A special category of Japanese cooking is nabemono, hearty one-pot dishes that are usually cooked at the table and include meat, fish, vegetables, tofu, and sometimes noodles. Aemono dishes are made up of cooked vegetables and seafood that are served cold and tossed with various sauces—sunomono dishes have vinegar dressings; ohitashi are boiled green vegetables topped with katsuobushi (dried bonito fish shavings) or sesame seeds and served with soy sauce.
Tsukemono are the many pickled vegetables that are served with most Japanese meals.
When Japanese cooks plan the day’s meals, they choose different dishes from these and other basic cooking categories.
Japanese breakfasts, lunches, and dinners all consist of foods prepared in different
ways or with contrasting flavors. A sharp-tasting sunomono dish might be served with teriyaki, a broiled food with a sweet sauce. Crunchy tsukemono makes a good contrast to a nabemono brimming
with meat or seafood and vegetables. Unlike Western cooks— who plan certain types of foods for each of the day’s main meals— Japanese cooks mix and match foods. Soup, for example, is as likely to appear at breakfast as at lunch.

The recipes in this book are divided into groups based on the style of cooking or preparation they require. You will be able to plan meals in the Japanese style by choosing dishes from these basic categories.