Planning Japanese meals

[torakris]

In the Joubi Sai thread, Cheeko said:

I don't always serve soup but I do try to have the 5 dishes, 5 colors of food present (black, red, white, yellow and green) and vary the cooking methods.

and earlier in the thread Hiroyuki discussed the ichijuu sansai:

I have a feeling that many of those who are not familiar with Japanese home cooking don't know exactly how ichijuu sansai (one soup and three dishes, in addition to rice) is implemented in everyday Japanese meals. Ichijuu sansai is easier to implement if you prepare joubi sai (常備菜 in Kanji). A joubi sai is a dish made so that it can keep for days and some even for weeks.

If you prepare one joubi sai and keep it in the fridge, all you have to do to make an ichijuu sansai meal is to:

1. Cook rice (or reheat leftover rice)

2. Make miso soup (or reheat leftover miso soup)

3. Make a shusai (main dish), such as grilled fish.

4. Make a fukusai (side dish or sub-dish?), such as a salad.

What points do you take into consideration when preparing a Japanese meal?

I have to admit I pay much more attention to colors when I am putting together a bento, but for an everyday meal I always make sure I have a couple different cooking techniques. I would never put 3 simmered dishes together at one meal even 2 would make my skin itch, but this is just me.

[torakris]

In a formal Japanese meal there can be a multitude of courses depending on just how formal the meal is. The following is a list of courses with their corresponding eGullet thread.

zensai (appetizer)

suimono (clear soups)

sashimi (raw fish)

yakimono (grilled/pan fried foods)

mushimono (steamed foods)

nimono (simmered foods)

agemono (deep fried foods)

sunomono (vinegared foods)

aemono (dressed foods)

these would be followed by

gohan (rice)

miso soup

tsukemono (pickles)

ocha (green tea)

[SuzySushi]

Hmmmm.... I haven't done a formal meal for some time now, but when I do, I follow Japanese conventions of meal planning with different types of courses, cooking methods, and colors. I've never served quite as many courses as on your full list, however. For instance, I'd serve suimono OR miso soup -- not both at the same meal. Likewise, I'd probably do a sunomono OR an aemono, not both.

For everyday Japanese meals, I tend to serve "sansai" without the "ichijuu"! We have miso soup when dining out, but rarely at home -- it's just too much food for everyday, especially when my daughter follows up her dinners with juice or milk. Unless it's a one-pot or one-dish meal (such as sukiyaki, donburi, curry, or noodles), I'll do a main course and two side dishes, plus rice and pickles.

I don't consciously plan out the colors or cooking methods, but I suppose from so much exposure to Japanese culture from cooking and eating with Japanese friends, I've absorbed the precepts of Japanese meal planning so they've become second-nature.

[helenjp]

Ichiju issai - some photos from a cookbook featuring single-dish meals, the answer to the "makes too much food, takes too much time" problems of ichiju sansai.

[Hiroyuki]

Ichiju issai - some photos from a cookbook featuring single-dish meals, the answer to the "makes too much food, takes too much time" problems of ichiju sansai.

←

Thanks for the link, Helen, but I belive that the beauty of ichijuu sansai is that it can provide variations, and I think that an ichijuu sansai meal looks rather bare. I usually associate ichijuu sansai with the elderly, who can't have as many dishes as younger people.

[Hiroyuki]

For my family, miso soup (sometimes clear soup) is required, not optional, for breakfast and supper. It's only optional for lunch.

We make it a point to make substantial miso soup, full of vegetables. My children, especially my son, tend to have whatever in miso soup. For example, he doesn't like onions in stir-fried vegetables, but he can happily eat onions in miso soup.

For my family, planning an everday supper meal starts with which to have for a staple, rice or noodles (soba, udon, somen, hiyamugi, ramen, spaghetti, etc.). If it's rice, then which to have for a shusai, fish, pork, minced meat, beef, etc. Then, we decide which fukusai to make (salad, simmered kabocha, simmered hijiki, etc.). All this procedure is kind of automatic...

[Hiroyuki]

This is the flyer received from my children's nursery school years ago that we use to teach them how to eat a well-balanced meal.

You can see Red Man, Yellow Man, and Green Man, which represent sources of protein, carbohydrate, and vitamins, respectively.

We make sure that our everyday meals contain all of these Man and ask my children, "Have you had all of the three Man?"

[Domestic Goddess]

That is so cute Hiroyuki!

[Culinista]

Am I the only one who plans meals around what dishware I want to use?

I try to have different colors and cooking techniques as well, and there is always a soup, rice, and pickles.