Food Of The Rising Sun

Recently I wrote about Bento boxes , one small aspect of Japanese cuisine. However the Land of The Rising Sun has many different and delicious dishes. Some are native, some taken from the Portuguese sailors who once traded with the islands. It is a varied menu, full of soups, fried, raw and cooked foods.

Most Americans only know sushi and the Benihana style of Japanese cooking. Yet there's so much more. there's tempura, taken from the Portuguese which is fried batter dipped veggies. These are wonderful if done right and usually can be ordered as an appetizer or a main meal. There is also yakitori a savory sweet chicken kabob. Sometimes just the chicken is served sans skewers with just the yakitori sauce, It's usually made with mirin or sake and maple syrup or honey. Another favorite is miso soup, a clear broth made from fermented barley rice or soy beans seasoning,. Vegetables or tofu is usually added . A pork version called tonjiro is also popular.

Of course there is sushi. This is a staple now in American diet and is the fun Saturday night out go to meal. it's nothing more than vinegared rice with veggies or fish added. There are four different types of sushi, Nigiri-sushi: which is sushi with the ingredients on top of a block of rice.
Maki-zushi:or"roll sushi", this is where rice and seafood or other ingredients are placed on a sheet of seaweed or nori and rolled into a cylindrical shape on a bamboo mat and then cut into smaller pieces. Then there is temaki. It's basically the same as others except that it's rolled into a cone-shape with the ingredients placed inside. Sometimes referred to as a "hand-roll".
The last is chirashi: or"scattered". Chirashi involves fresh sea food, vegetables or other ingredients being placed on top of sushi rice in a bowl or dish.


Japanese food is an amazing and mouth watering array of different tastes and textures. it;'s been influenced b y tradition and foreigners, the land and the sea. It reflects the many facets of an ancient yet totally modern country in tune with itself and its' people.