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Japanese cuisine

Our lives are not in the lap of the gods, but in the lap of our cooks. ~Lin Yutang, "The Importance of Living", 1937
 		  
Asian cuisine in the Columbia River Gorge - Japanese food
 

Formal Japanese Dinner Menu for Western Diners

Umami - 5th taste - Not salty, sweet, sour, bitter; comes from amino acid; most concentrated in kelp, bonito flakes, and shiitake mushrooms; used in some form as basis of all stocks

Features of Meal - Presentation that has elegant simplicity and exquisite taste. Guided by eye, heart, and soul of the chef. Artistic balanced arrangements of texture, color, and shape according to season of year.

Dishes are served one by one as each is prepared. Ingredients are carefully cut for beauty and ease of both cooking and eating. Emphasis on high-quality, fresh ingredients in season
 

  

Traditional meal consists of Ichiju sansai meaning soup, plus three (raw dish, grilled dish, simmered dish, and rice); and Western dessert.

This differs from Kaiseki Meal, which is made up of  many small, even single bite, dishes
 
 

Beginning of Meal
- Appetizers
- Sake
 

MENU IDEAS:

Asparagus bites

Shrimp and sauce (traditionally raw fish)

Smoked salmon

Clear soup (Suimono) to cleanse the palate
 Clear Soup with Carrot and Daikon Flowers

Beverage: Traditional sake: Warm or on ice depending on season
 

Middle of Meal
-Salad (Aemono) with thick dressing or vinegar dressing;
- Grilled or deep-fried dish;
- Steamed dish (Mushimono);  or simmered dish (Nimomo)
or stir-fried dish (Irimono)
or deep-fried dish (Agemono) or grilled/broiled dish (Yakimono) or casserole dish
 

MENU IDEAS:

Salad, such as cucumber/red onion salad with vinegary dressing

Grilled dish: Pork cutlets

Chicken teriyaki; or batter-dipped cod;

Steamed dish: Vegetable dumplings; or simmered sweet potatoes;

Simmered dish or one-pot dish: Hot pot of pork and noodles; or chicken bowl (Chikuzen);

Or stir-fried dish: Mixed vegetables; or single vegetable: cabbage; spinach; potatoes; pumpkin; squash, etc.

Or casserole (Nabemono) dish cooked at the table

 Beverage: Non-traditional Western wine: Sauvignon blanc, Pinot gris, Chardonnay
 

End of Meal
- Rice (Gohanmono)
- Pickles
- Soup (Shirumono)
 

MENU IDEAS:

Rice dishes: traditionally serve plain white rice; may also be green pea rice;or bamboo shoot rice; or mushroom rice

Pickled dish, such as cucumbers or watermelon rind

Miso soup

Beverage: Green Tea
 

Dessert
(There would be no sweets served with traditional Japanese meal)
 

MENU IDEAS:

Summer - Fresh fruit bowl, which may include watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes

Winter - Wine poached Japanese pear or lightly glazed figs

Beverage:

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TRANSLATIONS OF FOOD-RELATED TERMS:

Japanese dinner menu for the Columbia River Gorge near Washougal, WA

 Nimomo Simmered dishes; one-pot dishes
Chikuzen Chicken and vegetable bowl from northern Kyushu
Suimono Clear soup
Nabemono Casserole dishes cooked at the table
Aemono Salads and dressed dishes with rice vinegar and mirim as basis
Mushimono Steamed dishes
Gohanmono Rice dishes
Agemono Deep-fried dishes, such as tempura
Irimono Stir-fried dishes are braised in oil and simmered in soup stock
Shirumono Soup
Nihaizu 2-flavored vinegar
Sanbaizu 3-flavored vinegar
Ama-zu Sweet vinegar
Yakimono Broiled or grilled dishes may be broiled over open flame,
or boiled and broiled
Namamono Raw dishes
Sushimi Raw fish
Wasabi Japanese horse radish
Mirim Japanese sweet rice wine
Tempura Vegetables, fish, and shrimp dipped in light batter, then quickly deep-fried
Sake Wine made from rice
Somen Noodles introduced by Samarai class
Zen Shu Sect of Buddhism in Japan

COOKERY TERMS:
Stock for every use Base of soups; boiling liquid for food;
used with vinegar in salad dressing; used with soy for dipping sauces
Japanese cookery Donabe - Japanese casserole dish made of special clay that allows direct contact with flame
  Tetsunabe - Cast iron casserole dish used for dishes with minimal liquid, such as sukiyaki
  Agemono no dogu - Deep pan used for deep frying and stir frying
  Aburu tori - Oil drainer pan with a grate
  Ami Shakushi - Net ladle or spider
  Otoshi buta - Drop lid for keeping food under liquid to cook
  Mushiki - Steamer
  Makiyaki nabe - Omelet pan
  Hangiri - Wooden tub for mixing rice
  Zaru - Draining basket, traditionally make of bamboo
  Oroshigane - Grater with wide ridges for daikon
Wasabe - Grater with close set ridges for ginger
  Suribachi and surikogi - Mortor and pestle
  Makisu - Bamboo rolling mat for shaping rice, eggs, sushi
 
Salad dressing Vinegary salads:
 

Auzu has 2 flavors - Daishi with vinegar, sugar

Sanbaiza has 3 flavors - Daishi with soy, vinegar, sugar
 
  Dressed salads (aemono):
  Richer and more substantial than vinegary salads
Most popular ingredients are tofu, nuts, seeds, or miso
Served mounted in middle of bowl or suribachi (ceramic mortar or bowl) part of mortar and pestle (wood crusher is called the surikogi)

SERVING METHODS:
Arranging food on plate: Food should not fill plate or be spread about on plate
  Salad is served in middle of bowl in mound, never touching edges, like a small island in the middle of a crater lake
  Simmered foods are arranged like landscape; larger items like mountains in background; smaller, lower items in foreground
  Most dishes are garnished wit a leaf of carved vegetable for contrast and to designate season
   
Arranging dishes on table: All dishes in place setting should be different
  A pair of chopsticks on rest at each setting
  At end of meal, rice goes to the left, soup to the right in front of other dishes
  Provide serving chopsticks for communal dishes
 
Types of dishes: Grilled foods (yakimono zara) are served on flat, rectangular, and large enough to hold whole fish
  Simmered food dishes (ninono zara) are large, lidded, and made of porcelain
  Rice dishes (chawan) are just the right size to fit in the hand
  Soup bowls (shiru-wan) are lacquered wood with domed lid
  Salad dishes are small, and square or round
  Deep-fried food dishes are often served in wicker baskets
  Savory steamed custard (chawan mushi) is served in slender porcelain cups with no handle and flat lid and have no other purpose
  Most elegant dish, usually sashimi, on large curving slabs of pottery, elegant pieces of porcelain or lacquered wooded trays
 
Chopsticks Japanese chopsticks are smaller than Chinese chopsticks and pointed on the end
  May be make of wood, lacquered wood, bamboo, or plastic
  For guests, there are special disposable chopsticks, which are used once and thrown away. Are still joined together when offered to show they are pure. Today, environmentally conscious people re-use washable chopsticks

SAKE:

Sake

Drink of the gods

 

Brewed from rice, regarded as sacred, cleanses evil spirits, deeply associated with Shinto, the indigenous religion, and its traditions and rituals

 

Blend of all 4 tastes: Sweet, sour, salt, bitter so it goes with all foods

 

Made from rice, steamed and fermented, and mixed with pure water

 

Best drunk young within 3 months of being bottled or at the longest within a year
  Drink from egg cup shaped glasses hot in winter; small square wooden mugs cold in summer

 

Connoisseurs prefer junmaishu-prime sake- unadulterated with added alcohol or sugar; prefer dry to sweet, although sweet is most often served in restaurants

 

Three grades:

 

Tokkyu - special

Ikkyu - first grade

Nikyu -second grade

 

When you drink sake, fill everyone's cup but your own.

 

As you raise your glass, you shout "Kampai!" Bottom's up!