Japanese Food

Japanese Food

Sushi

In Japanese cuisine, sushi is a food made of vinegared rice combined with various toppings or fillings, which includes seafood and can also include meat, vegetables, mushrooms, or eggs. Sushi toppings may be raw, cooked, or marinated. Sushi as an English word has come to refer to the complete dish (rice together with toppings); this is the sense used in this article. The original term Japanese: 寿司 sushi (-zushi in some compounds such as makizushi) in the Japanese language refers to the rice, not the fish or other toppings.In the Western world, sushi is often misunderstood to mean only clumps of rice topped with raw fish, or to refer to other raw-seafood dishes, such as sashimi (sushi and sashimi are considered distinct in Japan).There are various types of sushi. Sushi served rolled in nori (dried sheets of laver, a kind of pressed and dried alga) is called maki (rolls). Sushi made with toppings laid onto hand-formed clumps of rice is called nigiri; sushi made with toppings stuffed into a small pouch of fried tofu is called inari; and sushi made with toppings served scattered over a bowl of sushi rice is called chirashi-zushi, or scattered sushi.

Yakitori (Grilled Chicken on Skewers)

Yakitori being cookedYakitori (焼き鳥, やきとり), lit. grilled bird, is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. Also known as kushiyaki (串焼、くしやき), lit. skewer grill. Traditional yakitori consists only of various chicken parts and vegetables, but in modern usage refers to any sort of beef, pork, fish, seafood or vegetable kebab, which get skewered on skewers named kushi. Yakitori is typically served with salt or tare sauce, which is basically made up of mirin, sweet sake, soy sauce and sugar. The sauce is applied on the skewered meat and is grilled until delicately cooked and is served with the tare sauce as a dip. Yakitori is a very popular dish in Japan and throughout Asia. In Japan, many working people grab a yakitori and a beer from yakitori stalls on the way home from work. Yakitori is a common, cheap accompaniment to beer in izakayas.Common yakitori dishes yotsumi (四つ身, chicken breast) atsuage tofu (厚揚げとうふ, deep-fat fried tofu) enoki maki (エノキ巻き, enoki mushrooms wrapped in slices of pork) pīman (ピーマン, green pepper) negima (ねぎ間, green onions and chicken breast) nankotsu (軟骨, chicken cartilage) rebā (レバー, liver) tsukune (つくね, chicken meatballs) torikawa (とりかわ, chicken skin) tebasaki (手羽先, chicken wing) asuparabēkon (アスパラベーコン, asparagus wrapped in bacon) butabara (豚ばら, pork belly) ikada (筏, welsh onion)

Onigiri (Rice Ball)

Onigiri (お握り) also known as Omusubi (おむすび) is a Japanese (short grain) rice ball snack most commonly formed into triangle or oval shapes and wrapped in seaweed (nori). Traditionally, the onigiri is filled with pickled ume fruit (umeboshi), salted salmon (sake), katsuobushi or any other salty or sour ingredient. If a person pours vinegar on the cooked rice for onigiri, it is transformed into the basis of sushi, a different kind of food. In practice, however, either pickled filling or vinegar is used for preservation of the rice. Since the onigiri is one of the most famed and popular snacks in Japan, most convenience stores in Japan stock onigiri in many popular flavors. Specialized shops, called Onigiri-ya, offer handmade rice balls for take out.

Miso Soup

Miso soup (味噌汁, misoshiru in Japanese) is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called "dashi" into which is mixed softened miso paste. Although the suspension of miso paste into dashi is the only characteristic that actually defines miso soup, many other ingredients are added depending on regional and seasonal recipes as well as personal preference

Gohan (Boiled Rice) Japanese cooked white rice that has undergone a precooking process of washing, rinsing and soaking to remove as much starch as possible. This lengthy process can take up to an hour and reduces stickiness in the finished rice.

Besides these there are other Japanese dishes, to name a few like:

Beef Sukiyaki
Chicken Teriyaki
Yaki-Soba (Fried Noodles)
Ozoni (New Year's Soup)
Sweet Peanut Mochi (Rice Cakes)
Ramen (Noodle Soup)
Broiled Salmon