| Tempura, sukiyaki, sashimi, sushi - even the words | | | | are raw fish and seafood with various spices. |
| used to describe the most basic of Japanese dishes | | | | Impeccably fresh fish is the secret to wonderful |
| are exotic and beautiful. Japanese cuisine is easily one | | | | sashimi and sushi, served with wasabi and soya |
| of the healthiest in the world, with its concentration | | | | sauce. The Japanese love of beauty and simplicity |
| on fresh fish, seafood, rice and vegetables. The | | | | turns slices and chunks of raw fish into miniature |
| pungent sauces and delicate flavors of fresh foods | | | | works of art. Fish sliced so thin that it's transparent |
| complement each other beautifully, and the methods | | | | may be arranged on a platter in a delicate fan that |
| of presentation turn even simple meals into beautiful | | | | alternates pink-fleshed salmon with paler slices of fish. |
| events. | | | | Sushi is typically arranged to best display the colors |
| The Japanese have easily a dozen different names | | | | and textures to their best advantage, turning the |
| for rice, depending on how it is prepared and what it | | | | platter and plate into palettes for the artistry of the |
| is served with. The most common meal is a rice | | | | chef. |
| bowl, a bowl of white rice served with various | | | | Traditionally, meat plays a minor role in the Japanese |
| toppings or ingredients mixed in. So popular is it that | | | | diet, though it has been taking a larger and larger role |
| the Rice Bowl has even made its way into the world | | | | over the past fifty years as Japan becomes more |
| of Western convenience foods alongside ramen | | | | westernized. Beef, chicken and pork may be served |
| noodles. Domburi is a bowl of rice topped with | | | | with several meals a week now. One of the more |
| another food: domburi tendon, for instance, is rice | | | | popular meat dishes is 'yakitori' - chicken grilled on a |
| topped with tempura and domburi gyudon is rice | | | | skewer and served with sauce. A typical quick lunch |
| topped with beef. The Japanese adopted fried rice | | | | might include a skewer of yakitori and a rice bowl |
| from the Chinese, and a century ago, when curry | | | | with sushi sauce. |
| was first introduced, developed Kare Raisu, curry rice. | | | | In an interesting twist, Japan has imported dishes |
| It is now such a popular dish that there are many | | | | from other cuisines and 'Japanized' them, adopting |
| fast-food restaurants that serves several versions of | | | | them as part of their own cuisines. Korokke, for |
| it in take-away bowls. | | | | instance, are croquettes adopted from those |
| Besides white rice served as a side dish, Japanese | | | | introduced by the English last century. In Japan, the |
| cuisine also features onigiri - rice balls wrapped in | | | | most common filling is a mixture of mashed potatoes |
| seaweed, often with a 'surprise' in the middle, and | | | | and minced meat. Other Soshoyu - western dishes |
| kayu, a thin gruel made of rice that resembles | | | | that have made their way into Japanese everyday |
| oatmeal. | | | | cuisine include 'omuraisu', a rice omelet, and |
| As an island nation, it's not surprising that seafood is | | | | hambagau, the Japanized version of an American |
| featured in Japanese cuisine. Sushi and sashimi both | | | | hamburger. |