Cooking the Japanese Way

When they prepare food, the Japanese use basic cooking methods that preserve or enhance the natural flavors of all the ingredients. Most of these methods are simple and easy, but they produce dishes that taste delicious and look beautiful.

One of the most common styles of Japanese cooking is called nimono. This category includes dishes that are made by gently boiling or simmering ingredients such as fish, meat, or vegetables in a seasoned broth. Yakimono is food prepared by broiling, usually over a charcoal fire.The famous Japanese tempura—food that has been deep-fried in batter—belongs to the general group of agemono, or fried things.

A special category of Japanese cooking is nabemono, hearty one-pot dishes that are usually cooked at the table and include meat, fish, vegetables, tofu, and sometimes noodles. Aemono dishes are made up of cooked vegetables and seafood that are served cold and tossed with various sauces—sunomono dishes have vinegar dressings; ohitashi are boiled green vegetables topped with katsuobushi (dried bonito fish shavings) or sesame seeds and served with soy sauce. Tsukemono are the many pickled vegetables that are served with most Japanese meals.

When Japanese cooks plan the day’s meals, they choose different dishes from these and other basic cooking categories. Japanese breakfasts, lunches, and dinners all consist of foods prepared in different ways or with contrasting flavors. A sharp-tasting sunomono dish might be served with teriyaki, a broiled food with a sweet sauce. Crunchy tsukemono makes a good contrast to a nabemono brimming with meat or seafood and vegetables. Unlike Western cooks— who plan certain types of foods for each of the day’s main meals— Japanese cooks mix and match foods. Soup, for example, is as likely to appear at breakfast as at lunch.

When choosing and preparing dishes for a meal, Japanese cooks think not only of the food’s freshness and flavor but also of its appearance. They believe that good food should appeal to the mind and the eye as well as to the taste buds. Therefore, they try to make sure that the colors of the various ingredients and dishes in a meal look pleasing together. Many cooks use special methods of cutting and arranging ingredients. Finally, they serve food in well designed bowls, plates, and cups that make an appropriate background for its color and texture.

In Japan, cooking and serving food is considered an art. But it is an art that is an essential part of everyday life. Japanese cooks preparing meals for their families rely on the same principles of freshness, simplicity,and beauty as do chefs in the finest restaurants. Think yourself as an artist using vegetables, fish, and meat to make something that is both delicious and beautiful. Then you will really be cooking the Japanese way.

Eating with chopsticks means that table manners in Japan are different from those in countries where flatware is used. For example, it is good manners to pick up a rice bowl and hold it so that the food doesn’t fall from the chopsticks to the table or into your lap. It is impolite, however, to use the “eating” ends of your chopsticks to help yourself from a nabemono pot. Instead, you should turn the chopsticks around to use the “clean” ends for dishing up. Sometimes special serving chopsticks are provided.

Though chopsticks may seem tricky at first, they are not difficult to manage once you have learned the basic technique. The key to using them is to hold the inside stick still while moving the outside stick back and forth. The pair then act as pincers to pick up pieces of food.

Hold the thicker end of the first chopstick in the crook of your thumb, resting the lower part lightly against the inside of your ring finger.Then put the second chopstick between the tips of your index and middle fingers and hold it with your thumb, much as you would hold a pencil. Now you can make the outer chopstick move by bending your index and middle fingers toward the inside chopstick.

The tips of the two sticks should come together like pincers when you bend your fingers. Once you get a feel for the technique, just keep practicing. Soon you’ll be an expert!