Food
Shojin-ryori is Japan’s traditional Buddhist cuisine, created for monks and based on non-violence, balance, and mindfulness. It avoids meat, fish, and pungent ingredients, using vegetables, tofu, and simple seasonings instead. Many of its dishes quietly shaped everyday Japanese home cooking, so understanding shojin-ryori also reveals the roots of Japanese food culture. What Is Shojin-Ryori? Shojin-ryori is a plant-based Buddhist cuisine in Japan that focuses on purity, harmony, and appreciation for all life. It developed in Zen temples as the daily food of monks and is closely connected to spiritual practice rather than luxury or entertainment. Its foundations include: Non-violence ...
Most "wasabi" served around the world — and often even in Japan — is not freshly grated real wasabi.What many people recognize as wasabi is usually a horseradish-based paste made to imitate the sharp heat and green color of Japan's native wasabi plant. But this does not mean everyday wasabi is simply fake or wrong. In Japan, freshly grated hon-wasabi and convenient tube wasabi exist side by side because they serve different purposes.Fresh wasabi shows the craft side of Japanese food culture: timing, aroma, restraint, and careful pairing with ingredients. Tube wasabi shows the practical side: affordability, convenience, and everyday ...
Katsuobushi is made through a multi-stage process of boiling, repeated smoking, drying, and mold-based fermentation over several months. This process removes moisture, breaks down fats, and concentrates umami compounds such as inosinate, resulting in an extremely hard ingredient optimized for flavor extraction. Katsuobushi is one of the most unusual foods in the world — a piece of fish so thoroughly transformed that it must be shaved like wood.This transformation is no accident. It is the result of a carefully controlled process involving boiling, smoking, drying, and fermentation carried out over several months. Along the way, mold is deliberately introduced — ...
To many visitors, tamago kake gohan can be surprising. It is a bowl of hot rice topped with raw egg, usually seasoned with soy sauce and mixed together before eating. The ingredients are simple, but the idea of eating raw egg over rice can feel unfamiliar — especially for readers from countries where raw eggs are typically avoided. In Japan, however, tamago kake gohan is a familiar comfort food. It is quick, warm, inexpensive, and deeply tied to the everyday role of rice in Japanese meals. The dish works because several parts of Japanese food culture come ...
When the Japanese summer arrives — humid, hot, and relentless — there’s one drink that never fails to cool people down: iced coffee. Known in Japan as “aisu kōhī” (アイスコーヒー), this chilled version of coffee has been loved for over a century, becoming a symbol of summer itself. A Long History of Chilled Coffee Iced coffee isn’t a modern invention. In fact, Japan has been enjoying it since the Taishō era (around the 1920s), when coffeehouses began serving it with gum syrup and milk. At that time, drinking cold beverages like iced tea was already common, so it was ...
Sake is made from rice. Kōji (malted rice) and water are added to steamed rice, and this mixture is placed in a vat and left to ferment with yeast for 20 days. After fermentation, the mixture is ready for pressing, filtration, and heating. Sake, often called Seishu (literally, "clear sake"), is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from rice. Among all brewed alcoholic beverages, it has the highest alcohol content, often around 15-20%. Sake has been a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage since ancient times, with records of its production dating back over a thousand years. Sake has a wine-like aroma ...
I can recall someone told me decades ago with a subtle tone of creepiness ‘I heard Japanese eat fish raw? Then I clarified by saying Yes, but they are neatly cut and arranged on a dish plate – not catch and eat. Now many people know how the raw fishes are eaten in Japanese style it’s a decent seafood preparation called ‘Sashimi’, widely appreciated anywhere in the world. Actually, ‘Sushi’ is a rice dish on which ‘Sashimi’ is placed Since Sashimi is eaten raw, the ingredient has to be exceptionally fresh. You know things in an afterlife can rapidly degrade ...
Ohagi is a traditional Japanese sweet that has long been associated with offerings for ancestors, especially during seasonal observances such as Higan. In the past, it was more closely tied to these occasions. Today, however, ohagi has become a familiar everyday wagashi that can be enjoyed throughout the year. You can find it in supermarkets and wagashi shops, usually as small portions of sticky rice covered with anko, kinako, sesame, or other coatings. What makes ohagi especially interesting is the rice itself. It is sticky like mochi, yet still slightly grainy. It is neither ordinary steamed rice nor fully pounded ...
While more and more Japanese menus are being explored abroad, ‘Tonkatsu’ also has been widely recognised by now. ‘Ton’ stands for pork and ‘Katsu’ is the translation and abbreviation of cutlet. The choice is either fillet or loin The major preparation is like this: a steak of meat is dredged in wheat flour then dipped into beaten eggs followed by pressing into ‘Panko’ bread crumbs to coat all over. Deep-fry until golden brown. Freshly fried Tonkatsu of crispy covering and succulent meat is to die for! It’s typically accompanied with a heap of shredded cabbage and a wedge ...
Persimmon is a fruit which often stands between people's likes and dislikes. Large persimmon trees when most of the leaves have fallen in autumn depict a typical country scene and give us a feel of nostalgia. Kaki This fruit, Kaki in the Japanese language, becomes very distinct if you eat fresh or dried Dried Kaki are not the ones remained and dehydrated up on the trees, of course; they have to be carefully processed especially preventing from getting mould. You will call this dried fruit ‘Hoshi-gaki' in Japanese which literally means ‘dried-persimmon.' You could see farm houses hang the ...
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