Turning Japanese

With the arrival and popularity of Bonsai, the only Japanese restaurant in the city, many affluent Lagosians have embraced Japanese cuisine with chutzpah.  Many Nigerians are familiar with Chinese cuisines and can distinguish their chop sueys from their chow meins, but Japanese cuisine is still a mystery to many people who think it is about raw fish and rice.  Here we take you on a culinary tour of some of the ingredients you will find in a Japanese menu.

Rice
Rice is Japan main staple food.  They have developed sophisticated cuisine and by-products such as sake, mirin, vinegar and miso around rice. There are over 300 different types of short grain rice grown all over Japan.  

Fried Rice or chahan was introduced from China it contains assorted vegetables, meat and seafood.

Dombur is a bowl of cooked rice served with various toppings. Some of the most popular toppings are tempura egg and chicken and beef.

Onigiri is cooked rice ball wrapped in nori seaweed. They are slightly salted and sometimes contain some additional food in the centre, for example an umeboshi (pickled Japanese apricot), katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings), tuna or salmon. Rice balls are a popular and inexpensive snack in Japan.

Noodles
Noodles are among the most popular foods in Japan and there are different varieties:

Soba is a uniquely Japanese noodles made of buckwheat and wheat flour. Soba have the same thickness as spaghetti, and come in a range of colours - from dark brownish grey to light beige.  

Udon is a thick wheat noodles with the longest history of the Japanese noodles.  They are served either hot or cold with various toppings.  

Ramen originated in China and is made of wheat flour and eggs and is popularly used in soup with various toppings.  

Somen are very fine noodles also made from wheat and usually eaten cold.

Sushi
Sushi is the most famous Japanese dish outside of Japan, and one of the most popular. There are dozens of different types.

Nigiri are small rice balls with fish on top. There are countless varieties of nigirizushi, some of the most common ones being tuna, shrimp, eel, squid, octopus and fried egg.

Gunkan are small cups made of sushi rice and dried seaweed filled with seafood. There are many varieties of gunkanzushi, some of the most common being sea urchin and various kinds of fish eggs.

Norimaki is sushi rice and seafood rolled in dried seaweed sheets. There are numerous varieties of sushi rolls differing in ingredients and thickness.

Tempura
Tempura is seafood, vegetables, mushrooms and other pieces of food coated with light tempura batter (made with cold water, flour and egg) and deep-fried. Tempura was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in the 16th century but has internationally become one of Japan's most famous dishes.
 
Sashimi
Sashimi is seafood eaten raw with soy sauce and wasabi (a pungent root similar to horseradish.  It comes in a green paste). It is very hot and may well suit the Nigerian palate
 
Seaweeds
The Japanese consumption of seafood extends beyond just fish and shellfish to include seaweeds. There are over 30 varieties of seaweed and they are very rich in nutrients especially iron, calcium, phosphorus and iodine and rich in Vitamins A and C.  Seaweeds usually come in dried form.  

Konbu a giant kelp with a distinct oceanic aroma and intense flavour is an indispensable ingredient in Japanese cooking.  

Nori is the most famous seaweed product, a dried paper-thin sheet, is rich in vegetable protein, vitamins and minerals.  It is used with rice for rolling sushi and wrapping onigiri (rice balls) and mochi (rice cakes).   It has a light, smoky flavour.  

Wakeme is a brownish orange algae and comes mostly dried or salted and used in soups and served as a salad with vinegar or steamed with other vegetables.  

Miso
Miso is one of the oldest traditional Japanese ingredients.  Miso soup is often served as an accompaniment to breakfast, lunch and dinner. The soup is made by dissolving the miso paste in hot water followed by other ingredients such as wakeme seaweed and tofu.  Miso is quite salty and has a strong fermented bean flavour.  It is excellent for digestion.  

Tsukemono (Pickles)
Like rice, pickled vegetables are an essential ingredient in Japanese cuisine.  Unlike Euro-American pickling tradition, Japanese do not use vinegar as a pickling agent, instead they use miso, mustard, sake or mirin soups, shoyu together with salt.  Shio-zuke is the general term used for all salted vegetables, which includes vegetables such as cucumber, aubergine, radish, daikon.  

Sake
Until recently, sake was the only alcoholic drink in Japan, although bear, lager, wine and whisky have become more popular.  Sake is still the most respected drink of all and remains the drink for Japanese meals such as Kaiseki (formal banquet).  Sake is made from rice and is fermented to acquire its taste.  

Etiquette
•    Custom demands that you hold your cup or glass when someone pours you a drink
•    Use the same pair of hashi (chopsticks) throughout the meal.  When not in use, they should rest on a hashi rest and should be placed close to you.  
•    Never stick the hashi upright into the rice.  The hashi reminds the Japanese of the incense sticks that stand in ashes at funeral.  
•    Blowing your nose in public, and especially at the table, is considered bad manners.
•    It is considered good manners to empty your dishes to the last grain of rice.
•    After you finish eating, try to place all your dishes in the same way as they were at the start of the meal. This includes replacing the lid of dishes and replacing your chopsticks on the chopstick holder or into their paper slip.