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Japanese
Cuisine
Traditional Japanese cuisine is
dominated by white rice (hakumai), and few meals would
be complete without it. Anything
else served during a meal--fish ,meat ,vegetables ,tsukemono
(pickles ) is considered a side dish. Side dishes are served
to enhance the taste of the rice. Traditional Japanese meals
are named by the number of side dishes that accompany the
rice and soup that are nearly always served. The simplest
Japanese meal, for example, consists of ichiju-issai ("one
soup, one side" or "one dish meal").
This
means soup, rice, and one accompanying side dish--usually
a pickled vegetable like daikon . A traditional Japanese
breakfast, for example, usually consists of miso soup, rice,
and a pickled vegetable. The most common meal, however, is
called ichiju-sansai ("one soup, three sides"),
or soup, rice, and three side dishes, each employing a different
cooking technique. The three side dishes are usually raw
fish (sashimi , a grilled dish, and a simmered (sometimes
called boiled in translations from Japanese) dish -- although
steamed ,deep fried , vinegared, or dressed dishes may replace
the grilled or simmered dishes. Ichiju-sansai often finishes
with pickled vegetables and green tea .
One type of pickled
food that is popular is ume.
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Common Servings
- Sashimi is thinly sliced, raw
seafood. Many different kinds of fish (and other types
of seafood) are served raw
in the Japanese cuisine. Of course, the fish
has to be as
fresh as possible. Sashimi can be eaten just
as sashimi or as nigiri zushi in which case the sashimi
piece
is put on top of a small ball of sushi.
Sashimi pieces are dipped into soya sauce before
they are eaten. Depending on the kind of
sashimi, wasabi or ground
ginger is usually mixed into the soya sauce.
- Wasabi is Japanese horseradish. It is most famous in
form of a green paste used as condiment for sashimi (raw
seafood) and sushi. However, wasabi is also used for many
other Japanese dishes.
Wasabi is a root vegetable that is grated into a green
paste. In supermarkets, wasabi is widely available as a
paste or in powder form. Wasabi powder has to be mixed
with water to become a paste. Wasabi has a strong, hot
flavour which dissipates within a few seconds and leaves
no burning aftertaste in one's mouth.
- Sushi is
the most famous Japanese dish outside of Japan, and one
of the most popular dishes among the Japanese themselves
who usually enjoy sushi on special occasions.
During the Edo period ,"sushi" refered to pickled
fish conserved in vinegar. Nowadays sushi can be defined
as a dish containing rice which has been prepared with
sushi vinegar. There are many different types of sushi.
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