Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
21
Impressions
There is a saying that the Chinese eat with their stomachs and the Japanese with
their eyes.
—Bernard Leach,
A Potter In Japan
(1960)
No need to worry—even the Japanese
themselves don't always know what they're
eating, so varied and so wide is the range
of available edibles. The rule is simply to
enjoy, and enjoyment begins even before
you raise your chopsticks to your mouth.
To the Japanese, presentation of food is
as important as the food itself, and dishes
are designed to appeal to the eye as well as
to the palate. In contrast to the Western
way of piling as much food as possible
onto a single plate, the Japanese often use
many small plates, each arranged artfully
with bite-size morsels of food. After you
see what can be done with maple leaves,
flowers, bits of bamboo, and even pebbles
to enhance the appearance of food, your
relationship with what you eat may change
forever.
Below are explanations of some of the
most common types of Japanese cuisine.
Generally, only one type of cuisine is
served in a given restaurant—for example,
only raw seafood is served in a sushi bar,
while tempura is served at a tempura
counter. There are some exceptions to this,
especially in regard to raw fish and vegeta-
bles, which are served as appetizers and
side dishes in many restaurants. In addi-
tion, some of Japan's drinking establish-
ments (called
izakaya
or
nomiya
) offer a
wide range of foods, from soups to sushi to
skewered pieces of chicken known as
yaki-
tori.
Japanese restaurants in hotels may
also offer great variety in order to appeal to
as large a customer base as possible.
For a quick rundown of individual dishes,
refer to the food terms in appendix B.
FUGU
Known as blowfish, puffer fish,
or globefish in English, fugu is one of the
most exotic and adventurous foods in
Japan—if it's not prepared properly, it
means almost certain death for the con-
sumer! In the past decade or so, some 50
people in Japan have died from fugu poi-
soning, usually because they tried prepar-
ing it at home. The ovaries and intestines
of the fugu are deadly and must be entirely
removed without being punctured. So
why eat fugu if it can kill you? Well, for
one thing, it's delicious, and for another,
fugu chefs are strictly licensed by the gov-
ernment and greatly skilled in preparing
fugu dishes. You can order fugu raw
(fugu-
sashi),
sliced paper-thin and dipped into
soy sauce with bitter orange and chives; in
a stew
(fugu-chiri)
cooked with vegetables
at your table; or in a rice porridge
(fugu-
zosui).
There's even fugu-laced sake. The
season for fresh fugu is October or Novem-
ber through March, but some restaurants
serve it year-round.
KAISEKI
The king of Japanese cuisine,
kaiseki is the epitome of delicately and
exquisitely arranged food, the ultimate in
aesthetic appeal. It's also among the most
expensive meals you'll ever find. A kaiseki
dinner can cost ¥25,000 or more per per-
son; some restaurants, however, do offer
more affordable mini-kaiseki courses. In
addition, the better
ryokan
(Japanese inns)
serve kaiseki, one reason for a ryokan's high
cost. Kaiseki, which is not a specific dish
but rather a complete meal, is expensive
because much time and skill are involved in
preparing each of the many dishes, with the
ingredients cooked to preserve natural fla-
vors. Even the plates are chosen with great
care to enhance the color, texture, and
shape of each piece of food.
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