What is Japan for YOU?
Strange, but interesting people, age-long traditions and customs, marvelous places to visit or unforgettable national Japanese cuisine?
It might be interesting to know, that Japan is an archipelago (chain of islands) made up of about 3,000 islands. About two thirds of the land is too mountainous for development, so almost all the people live in cities.
Nowdays, Japan is interesting for millions of people with its national cuisine. It has been influenced by the customs of other nations, but has adopted and refined them to create its own unique cooking style and eating habits.
Japanese cuisine has developed over the past 2,000 years with the help of strong influences from both China and Korea.

It is important to remember that the major influence was the introduction of rice from Korea around 400 B.C. and within a hundred years it had become the staple food of Japan. Rice growing techniques were passed on to the Japanese during the Yayoi period. Then migrating tribes settled in Japan. Rice was used not only for eating, but also to make paper, wine, fuel, building materials and so on. Soy beans and wheat were introduced from China soon after rice. During Japan’s development tea, chopsticks and a number of other important food related items were also introduced from China.

Korea has also greatly influenced Japan. Religion has played a great part in Japanese cuisine development. Buddhism, despite the pre-existing Shinto and Confucian religions became the official religion of the country in the 6th century. For the next 1200 years eating of meat was prohibited. Fish was also forbidden.
Spice utilization was minimizes because of the meat lack. Pepper and cloves were known from the eighth century and were imported either via China or directly from Southeast Asia, and garlic was also grown on a small scale. But these spices were used mostly to make medicines and cosmetics.
Finally, after a ban for more than one thousand years, beef returned to Japan during the Meiji Period (1868–1912). Western foods, such as bread, coffee, and ice cream, have become popular during the late twentieth century. Another Western influence has been the introduction of timesaving cooking methods. These include the electric rice cooker, packaged foods such as instant noodles, instant miso (fermented soybean paste) soup, and instant pickling mixes. However, the Japanese are still devoted to their classic cooking traditions.
Preserving fish also became popular and sushi originated as a means of preserving fish by fermenting it in boiled rice. A unique fifteenth-century development shortened the fermentation period of sushi to one or two weeks and made both the fish and the rice edible. As a result, sushi became a popular snack food, combining fish with the traditional staple food, rice. Today, Japanese cuisine is still heavily influenced by the four seasons and geography. Seafood and vegetables are most commonly eaten. Whilst to some westerners, the food may seem almost bland, freshness, presentation and balance of flavours is of paramount importance.
In fact, many  people recognize Japanese food as one of the world’s healthiest cuisines. With rice and abundant marine products at it’s mainstream, the traditional Japanese diet is impressingly low in cholestrol, fat, and calories, and high in fiber.
No wonder Japanese people have the highest longetivity rate.
So, would you like to know more about  Japanese cuisine, its history and peculiarities?
Try to visit us once more…

Nori-dried seaweed.Best known as a wrapper for sushi and onigiri.Nori has a fresh,crisp taste. Seaweeds are very nutritious(30-50% protein content and various vitamins). Japan produces about 10 billion nori sheets(20x20cm) a year!!! Renkon-lotus root. Eaten in winter and spring. Rich in vitamin C and potassium. Renkon is associated with long life.Eaten sliced.  You can taste it in many Japanese Cuisine dishes.Roots are crunchy and they look great.                  Tempura-lightly battered,deep-fried vegetables or seafood.Tempura is eaten hot and usually you can try it in specialist tempura restaurants.  Tofu-soft,white bean curd cake.Made by coagulating soy milk and pressing the resulting curds into blocks.                       Tofu is low in calories and rich in protein,calcium,iron and phosphorus.It is very easily digestible for the body.   Sushi-anything made with vinegared rice.  Maybe the best known Japanese Cuisine dish.                                        Wakame-another popular seaweed in Japanese Cuisine. Japanese people say that wakame effective in treating hair loss and giving a nice shine to your hair.Harvested from May to June. Wakame very rich in iodine and minerals.Wakame is cut and dried.

Ingredients

Prepared Sushi Rice
4 sheets Nori Seaweed
150g/+5oz Sashimi Tuna

Wasabi sauce to serve

Instructions

1. Cut the tuna into long very thin strips.

2. Place a nori sheet on top of a bamboo mat and spread a quarter of the sushi rice on top of the nori sheet.

3. Place one quarter of the tuna strips, lengthwise down the centre 2/3rds of the rice then roll up the bamboo mat, pressing forward to shape the sushi into a cylinder.

4. Press the bamboo mat firmly and remove it from the sushi and cut the rolled sushi into 8 pieces. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Serve garnished with Wasabi sauce (nothing tastes better).

Serves 4 Hot

Ingredients

2 Egg Yolks

210ml/7fl.oz. Ice Cold Carbonated Water

100g/4oz Plain Flour

4 Large Chicken Breasts, cut into 2.5cm/1 inch long strips

3 teasp Cornflour

Oil for deep frying

Instructions

1. Preheat the deep fat fryer to 190C, 375F.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the cold water.

3. Gently fold the flour into the liquid using a figure of eight action. Do not over fold: there should be some visible flour particles.

4. Coat the chicken strips in cornflour, removing any excess.

5. Dip the flour-coated chicken pieces in the batter and deep fry for 2-3 minutes until very pale golden, a few at a time.    Drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately.

Wasabi is Japanese horseradish.Used for many Japanese Cuisine dishes.Wasabi is a root vegetable,that is grated into a green paste.Wasabi is widely available as a paste or in powder form.Powder has to be mixed with water to become a paste.Wasabi has extremely strong hot flavour,which disappears within a few seconds and leaves no burning aftertaste in one’s mouth. Scientists say,that Wasabi does Cancer Protection and has Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Bacterial effects.

The most important thing in cooking ”right” sushi-is rice.Not every sort of rice will make your sushi tasty and delicious.Many people associate sushi with raw fish.But the main ingridient is rice.Japanese sticky rice seasoned with sweet vinegar.Of course,fish is important element,but not just raw fish.Smoked or cooked and even shellfish.So,try at your local Japanese restaurant every sort of sushi and enjoy healthy Japanese Cuisine.Bon appetit!   Sushi appeared at the end of 19 century due to the talented Japanese cook Yohei. He  first made sushi using raw fish. His culinary creations are immediately gained popularity.   Fundamentals of sushi:Sushi – this is a snack consisting of fresh fillet of raw fish, seafood or vegetables, cooked glutinous rice,wrapped in a special plate of seaweed (nori seaweed).They are the following:  Sashimi, Nigiri, Maki, Kone.

If we are talking about Japanese cuisine, it is impossible not to speak about the fish. Facts – are stubborn things : the Japanese, whose population is only 2% of the total world population, consume over 10% of the total world catch of fish.In Japanese cuisine, fish prepared in many different ways, and use fresh, world-famous sushi. The fish fried on grill or in a pan, boiled or steamed, is very popular in Japan.Especially beloved by the Japanese fish – tuna, sardines, salmon, mackerel and herring – the best source of fatty acids, which improve the functioning of the heart and improve mood.With fish, the Japanese consume less  lamb and beef, which contains saturated fats that contribute to clogging pores, and leads to heart disease and obesity.

Why japanese people live till 100? Cause japanese cuisine is healthy food.Vital Statistics about life expectancy in Japan”Life expectancy for Japanese women-already the longest in the world and it’s rises even higher.” Japanese women’s life expectancy remained the world’s longest for the 22nd straight year.Thanks to traditional fish and rice-based diet Japan has long been touted as one of the world’s longest-living populations,but experts are worried that changing eating patterns to fast food may soon change this.  Unfortunately.

As in most countries, Japanese Cuisine can be broken up into regional and national dishes. Although many dishes have been around for centuries, the growing influence of western society has had some impact on the foods now found in many homes and restaurants in Japan.

Typical Japanese Cuisine features ingredients such as noodles, eggs, soy products (including tofu), various fish, (the Japanese use a lot of fish), short or medium grain white rice, mochi rice, fruits (some of which people in the west have probably never even heard of), and meat and poultry. In Japanese Cuisine it is not unusual to see horse meat on a menu. For example, raw horse meat in a meal served in thin slices dipped in soy sauce, and with onions and ginger is called basashi. This dish is favored in the regions of Nagano and Tohoku. Barbecued horse meat – bagushi – is also eaten in many parts of Japan.

Japan is also heavily involved in whaling, which remains controversial. Just like the eating of horse meat, eating whales or dolphins in a number of countries is a taboo. Japanese claims that their killing whales to conduct scientific studies tends to land on deaf ears among anti-whaling groups, who see Japan’s whaling industry as a major threat to the future of some kinds of whale. The continuing argument serves to illustrate the gap between cultures in our modern societies.

When eating out, you will find that restaurants often focus on just one type of Japanese cuisine. Among the more popular are Sushi-ya, and the Kaiten-zushi, both of which as the name implies serve sushi-style dishes.

Soba-ya specialize in noodle based dishes; Tonkatsu-ya serve deep fried breaded pork cutlets; Yakitori-ya specialize in yakitori, grilled chicken skewers; and Ramen-ya specialize in ramen dishes, which consist of Chinese style noodles served in a soup with various toppings. Ramen is a very popular street food, and can usually be found anywhere you go in Japan.

There are of course restaurants which cater to most tastes. “Family restaurants” offer a variety of Japanese Cuisine and western style dishes. And if you think you can get away from McDonalds, think again, you’ll find them in most of the major cities in Japan.