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OBJECTIVES:

Identify the major influences, ingredients, flavors, and cooking techniques of Japanese cuisine.

Japanese Food and Culture

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Japan’s close neighbors, China and Korea, have played major roles in its culture through both trade and religion.

Japan’s Geography

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Japanese Cuisine

Westerners introduced cooking techniques like baking and deep-frying, which was quickly adopted as tempura.

The word for cooked rice, gohan, also means meal, demonstrating its essential nature to Japanese cuisine.

Soybeans are a major agricultural product of Japan.

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Japanese Cuisine

Hokkaido, in northern Japan, produces most of the seafood consumed in Japan, as well as a wide variety of vegetables.

In the rice belt, mountain vegetables and maitake

mushrooms are also produced; buckwheat soba noodles and hot-pots using local seafood are popular.

Tokyo and its environs are famous for nigiri sushi, seafood, and soybean products. 11.4

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Nigiri Sushi

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Japanese Cuisine

Kansai, in the west, produces vegetables, fruit, rice, and Kobe beef; sukiyaki and udon noodles are specialties.

Southern Kyushu grows a wide variety of vegetables and fruit, including onions, strawberries, and shiitake mushrooms.

The Japanese prioritize quality over quantity in their food, prizing each ingredient individually.

Visual appeal is as important as the food itself, so preparation and presentation are meticulous.

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Common Japanese Flavors

Sea Vegetables

Wasabi Rice Vinegar

Daikon Sesame

Shiitake

Mushrooms

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#1 RULE: MISE EN PLACE

JAPANESE STIR-FRY

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Mise en Place- All materials must be ready.

You cannot stop during the cooking process or you lose the “breath of the wok”

Heat aromatics (garlic, chiles, ginger, etc)

Blanch and cook vegetables

Have slurry of corn starch and water

Heat pan for a bit and then heat oil.

Tip out excess oil

“seasoning the wok”

Cook meat, set aside

Finish cooking vegetables

Add sauce until thickened

Add protein back in

Serve over rice

Steps in Stir-Fry