Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [44]
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Food & Drink
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STAPLES
RESTAURANTS & SAMPLE MENUS
DRINKS
CELEBRATIONS
VEGETARIANS & VEGANS
EATING WITH KIDS
HABITS & CUSTOMS
COOKING COURSES
USEFUL WORDS & PHRASES
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Those familiar with nihon ryōri (Japanese cuisine) know that eating is half the fun of travelling in Japan, if not perhaps the best part. Even if you’ve already tried some of Japan’s better-known specialities in Japanese restaurants in your own country, you’re likely to be surprised by how delicious the original is when served on its home turf. More importantly, the adventurous eater will be delighted to find that Japanese food is far more than just sushi, tempura or sukiyaki. Indeed, it is possible to spend a month in Japan and sample a different speciality restaurant every night.
Of course, you may baulk at charging into a restaurant where both the language and the menu are likely to be incomprehensible. The best way to get over this fear is to familiarise yourself with the main types of Japanese restaurants so that you have some idea of what’s on offer and how to order it. Those timid of heart should take solace in the fact that the Japanese will go to extraordinary lengths to understand what you want and will help you to order. To help you out further, eating reviews in this book recommend specific dishes where no English menu is available.
With the exception of shokudō (all-round restaurants) and izakaya (pub-eateries), most Japanese restaurants concentrate on a speciality cuisine. This naturally makes for delicious eating, but does limit your choice. The information under Restaurants & Sample Menus introduces the main types of Japanese restaurants, along with a sample menu of some of the most common dishes served.
For information on how to eat in a Japanese restaurant, see the boxed text. For information on eating etiquette in Japan, see the tips in the boxed text, opposite.
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Lonely Planet’s World Food Japan (John Ashburne and Yoshi Abe) provides a detailed introduction to Japanese cuisine. It’s an excellent supplement to the information in this chapter.
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STAPLES
Despite the mind-boggling variety of dishes throughout the island chain, the staples that make up Japanese cuisine remain the same nationwide: shōyu (soy sauce), miso, tofu, mame (beans) and above all, the divine crop, kome (rice).
Rice (O-kome)
The Japanese don’t just consume kome (rice) all day, every day. In its uncooked form it is called o-kome, the o- denoting respect, kome meaning rice. Cooked Japanese style, it is called go-han (the go- prefix is the highest indicator of respect), denoting rice or meal. Truck drivers, however, may use the more informal meshi, something akin to ‘grub’. When it is included in Western-style meals, it is termed raisu. On average, Japanese consume an astonishing 70kg of kome per person per year. Culturally, most Japanese feel a meal is simply incomplete without the inclusion of kome.
Hakumai is the plain white rice that is used in every dish from the humble ekiben (bentō lunch box bought at a train station) to the finest kaiseki (Japanese haute cuisine). A meal will consist of, for example, a bowl of hakumai topped with tsukudani (fish and vegetables simmered in shōyu and mirin, which is a sweet rice wine), served with a bowl of miso soup, accompanied by a side dish of tsukemono (pickles). Genmai, unpolished, unrefined brown rice, is rarely spotted outside organic restaurants (with the notable exception of shōjin-ryōri – Buddhist vegetarian cuisine) as it lacks that fragrance and glow so desired of simple hakumai. Rice is used in zōsui (rice soup), o-chazuke (where green tea is poured onto white rice), onigiri