What are the specialties of Japanese cuisine?

Japanese cuisine, or "wagashi", originated in the Japanese islands and has gradually developed into a unique Japanese cuisine. The main food is mainly rice and noodles, and the side dishes are mostly fresh fish and shrimp and other seafood, often accompanied by Japanese sake. Wagashi is known for its lightness, and it tries to keep the original flavor of the ingredients as much as possible when cooking. In the production of Japanese cuisine, the requirements of fresh materials, cut carefully, artfully arranged, focusing on the "color, aroma, taste, ware" harmony, especially not only the importance of the sense of taste, but also attaches great importance to the visual enjoyment. Wagyu requires natural color, fresh taste, various shapes, and excellent utensils. In addition, the seasonal sense is emphasized in the ingredients and seasoning method. There are many different types of wagashi, and each region has its own local flavor.

The most representative of wagashi are sashimi, sushi, onigiri (rice balls), tempura, hot pot, ishiyaki, and yakitori.

"Sashimi," or raw fish, is the best raw food in Japan. Since ancient times, Japan has had the habit of eating raw food. Before the Edo period, sashimi was mainly made from sea bream, turbot, plaice, and sea bass, which all had white meat. After the Meiji period, red-colored tuna and bonito became the best ingredients for sashimi. Nowadays, Japanese people cut shellfish and lobster into thin slices and call them "sashimi". Fugu (blowfish), which has been poisoned and sliced into thin slices, is the best sashimi, and the chef who makes blowfish sashimi must be professionally qualified, and the sashimi is tender and tasty, but expensive. The sashimi is served with green wasabi and soy sauce. This wasabi, called "ゎさび" in Japanese, is a plant called "wasabi" that grows under waterfalls and springs, and withers at the slightest sign of pollution. Wasabi is like a small carrot with black skin and green flesh. Ground and crushed and put in soy sauce to eat sashimi, it has a special pungent and spicy flavor, which is antiseptic and appetizing. Japanese sashimi is exceptionally fresh, uniform thickness and length. Sashimi plate decorated with this white radish, seaweed, shiso flowers, reflecting the Japanese pro-nature food culture.

"Sushi", also known as Shiki-rice, is a representative of the Japanese rice, sushi should be made in the rice with vinegar, sugar, salt, cooking wine and other seasonings, but also add seaweed, horseradish, etc., and will be clenched into a small ball of rice, on top of a variety of slices of raw fish, fish, shrimp, shellfish, and so on, which is called "clenched sushi! Sushi". The rice is spread on top of the sushi, and then sliced raw fish, nori, etc. are added and rolled up into a cylindrical shape, which is called "maki sushi". Sushi is popular among Japanese people because it is tasty and affordable. At Tokyo's Kneaded Rice Sushi, customers can eat while watching the chef's handiwork.

Onigiri is a medium-sized ball of cooked rice that is clenched with both hands and filled with salted dried plums or salted salmon. When clutching, both hands are dipped in water and salt to make the rice ball slightly salty, wrapped with nori on the outside, and served with some salted vegetables for three meals. It is a traditional Japanese custom to wrap the onigiri in a bamboo skin and carry it for picnics when traveling or on picnics.

"Tempura" is a deep-fried food in Japanese cuisine, using flour, eggs, water and batter, fish, shrimp, vegetables coated with batter into the frying pan fried to a golden brown, eaten dipped in soy sauce and mashed daikon radish in the sauce, tender and delicious, fragrant but not greasy.

Sukiyaki hot pot, also known as Japanese hot pot, became popular only after the second half of the 19th century. It consists of thinly sliced beef cooked with seafood and vegetables and served with a sauce made from raw egg, soy sauce and sugar. In ancient Japan, it was customary to eat this kind of food, where farmers put fish and vegetables on a pot on a pit in the ground and ate them as they were cooked.

"Ishiyaki" is steak cooked on a hot stone and dipped in fresh soy sauce. Japan has bred a type of cow whose meat is so soft that it can be peeled apart with chopsticks and melts in your mouth, making it unusually tender. These Kobe and Matsusaka cows, which have an international reputation, come with a hefty price tag.

Yakitori is chicken cut into slices and skewered on thin bamboo skewers, dipped in a flavorful sauce made from soy sauce, sugar and cooking wine, and roasted over a fire. Chicken or pork offal is also used as an ingredient, but yakitori is traditionally called "yakitori," and it is inexpensive, so many people enjoy it as a drink. "Yakitoriya" can be found all over Japan. Nowadays, fish, meat and vegetables are the main ingredients in Japanese cuisine. In ancient Japan, meat used to be one of the staple foods. However, in 675 A.D., under the influence of Buddhism, Emperor Tenmu issued a ban on the consumption of cows, horses, dogs, monkeys, chickens, etc., and the habit of the Japanese of eating very little meat lasted for more than a thousand years. Until the Edo period, Japan still did not slaughter poultry and livestock, but game cooked in hunting grounds was still edible. After the Meiji Restoration, the habit of eating meat was introduced from Europe and America and quickly spread throughout the country.

The rice produced in Japan is rich in nutrients and of excellent quality, and the cooked rice is pearl-shaped and aromatic. Rice is often eaten with side dishes such as green vegetables, fish and meat, and with flavored soups and pickles such as yellow sauce. Nowadays, a lot of people use Western or Chinese cuisine to accompany their side dishes. Japanese noodles, inexpensive and delicious, especially buckwheat noodles, are a popular favorite.

Japanese people have a long history of simplicity and frugality in their dietary life. In addition, foods that are used as stockpiles and preserved in case of a poor harvest include pickled vegetables, pickled fish and meat, and air-dried foods.

Wooden chopsticks are generally used for eating, and Japanese chopsticks are shorter than Chinese ones, 22 centimeters for men and 21 centimeters for women.

Japanese society runs at a fast pace. Breakfast in Japan is simple and lunch is casual, while dinner is the most sumptuous.

Japanese people often eat red beans and rice and snapper with head and tail for every happy occasion. The red beans are added to the glutinous rice and steamed together to make red beans and rice, and the color of the red beans dyes the glutinous rice red, which symbolizes the color of fire and the sun, and has been regarded as a color of good luck since ancient times. The red color symbolizes fire and the color of the sun, and has been regarded as an auspicious color since ancient times. The snapper's body is bright red, so it has become a symbol of good luck.

Among alcoholic beverages, sake (15% to 16% alcohol by volume) is used in large quantities. in 1994, the consumption of alcohol in Japan was about 10 million kiloliters, and production was 9.34 million kiloliters, of which beer accounted for 76%, sake 11%, and spirits 7%. Japanese people often drink after work with clients, coworkers or supervisors to enhance interpersonal relationships.

The most popular drink in Japan is green tea. Coffee is also popular with modern Japanese, and black and oolong teas are also quite popular.

A variety of world-famous dishes can be enjoyed in Japan, but most are somewhat Japaneseized to suit Japanese tastes. Tokyo is a showcase for international cooking. The most common foreign meal in Japan is Chinese cuisine, and there are quite a few restaurants run by Chinese. In addition, Korean, French, Italian and Indian cuisines are also popular.

Nowadays, Japanese meals have gradually diversified, with American fast food and hamburger spaghetti partially replacing onigiri. Chicken consumption has increased more than 10-fold from 1960, while sales of rice are 1/3 less than they were more than 20 years ago and are still declining. Frozen foods are popular with housewives, and Chinese cuisine such as gyoza, potstickers, buns and noodles are also popular in Japan.

The four major cuisines: 1. Kaiseki cuisine The meal before the pancha, in order not to interfere with the enjoyment of the tea, the taste of the food and the ingredients are very careful. The owner of the teahouse carefully selects fresh seafood and vegetables according to the season and cooks them with great care. Kaiseki cuisine emphasizes a quiet environment and simple, elegant cuisine.

2. Zhuozhuang Cuisine Chinese style cuisine, which is characterized by guests gathered around a table, sitting in back chairs, all the food on one table. This type of cuisine originated as a Buddhist vegetarian diet in ancient China, and was developed by Zen Master Yumoto as "pu-cha cuisine," which is a dish in which tea is served instead of alcohol. It is also known as "Nagasaki cuisine" because it was popular in Nagasaki. The cuisine was created by using locally produced meat and seafood in a Buddhist vegetarian diet. The main dishes of Chokkei cuisine include shark's fin soup, tea, large plates, medium plates, small dishes, stews, rice cake and small bean soup, and fruits. The small dishes are divided into five, seven and nine dishes, with seven dishes being the most common. At the beginning, all the small dishes are placed on the table first, and while eating, shark's fin consommé and other dishes are placed on the table.

3. Chagai Cuisine The tea ceremony was popular in the Muromachi period (14th century), and the tea banquet "Chagai Cuisine" emerged. In the beginning, it was a simple dish that was just a garnish for the tea ceremony. Toward the end of the Muromachi period, it became very luxurious. Later, Chirikyu, the founder of the tea ceremony, restored the original simplicity of the tea ceremony cuisine.

The tea ceremony cuisine was as economical as possible in terms of space and labor, and only three utensils were used for the main dishes -- rice bowls, soup bowls, and small plates. In between are soup, dried plums, fruits, and sometimes two or three mountain delicacies are served, ending with tea.

4. Honzen cuisine is the ceremonial cuisine used for weddings and celebrations. Generally divided into three dishes and one soup, five dishes and two soups, seven dishes and three soups. Cooking focuses on the harmony of color, aroma and taste. It is also made into a certain shape for good luck. There are also rules when eating, for example: hold the bowl on the left with your left hand and put the lid on the left with your right hand. On the other hand, use the right hand to open the lid. Hold the bowl with both hands, put down the right hand, and lift the bowl with the right hand. The right hand holds the chopsticks. Every time you take two bites of rice, put the bowl down, then take the bowl of soup with both hands and take two sips before putting the bowl down. After that, you have to take two bites of rice and then chopsticks.

Ninety-five sushi restaurants (Japanese sushi introduction), with "sushi" as the name of only two, the vast majority of the word "sushi" on the word, adding rice is something after many years. Moreover, rice is added for preservation because it promotes fermentation and improves preservation. In other words, at first, sushi was not a "rice and vegetables" food, but a method of preserving fish, and rice was added as a "medium" for this purpose. This type of lousy food, whose main purpose is to preserve the fish, is called "tame sushi," which is different from "handmade sushi.

(Specialized term) "Shari": Rice used for sushi." Ginshari (银舍利)" : the highest and best tasting rice.

"Kamigari (Hana) AGARI (BANA)": freshly brewed tea.

"がり (GARI)": sliced ginger. Describes the sound made when eating ginger slices.

"Tongue (SHITA)": the axe foot of a shell.

"Gunkan-maki": Rice ball wrapped with nori on the outside and topped with sea urchin sauce or salmon roe. When viewed from the side, it looks like a warship.

(Rules that don't make sense)

"Sushidori" says that the flavors of omelette sushi and cavefish sushi are the most representative of sushi restaurants. Because sushi restaurants rarely make sushi with such heated ingredients, they reflect the master's craftsmanship. But a sushi restaurant is still only as good as the freshness of its ingredients.

The "sushi school" says that the correct order is to eat the red fish first, then the white fish, and then the omelette sushi as a snack, etc. But that doesn't have to be the case. But you don't have to be bound by that, you can just eat what you like!