Cuisine Misunderstood

[Hiroyuki]

Culinista wrote here

-Few people understand the internal logic of Japanese cuisine, particularly the importance of rice and seasonality. Japanese restaurants in the west serve the same menu all the time.

raji wrote here

Thanks! Yes I try to edumacate people in the US. I think Japanese food is the #1 misunderstood food in America. Especially when most Americans think that Japanese food is sushi (and usually bad ones)

And Cheeko wrote here

I'm at a disadvantage because of the unavailability of many of the recommended California brands and Japanese imports in my area. I can mail-order them, but the shipping costs will kill me. I would buy this rice again for special occasions but I would reserve it for guests who really like rice by itself - not as a side dish and not as a part of maki sushi.

(All emphases are by me.)

All of these posts bring me back to the same old question, "Is Japanese cuisine understood?"

Rice has a dominant presence in Japanese cuisine. It's the staple, the king, soup (often miso soup) is the companion (the queen), and other dishes (okazu) are the humble subordinates (the servants) no matter how they may be good by themselves. In fact, the reason for being of okazu is to enhance the flavor of rice.

This most striking aspect of Japanese cuisine may not be apparent to you if you eat kaiseki meals and sushi only and think that they represent Japanese cuisine.

Do you understand Japanese cuisine?

Any comments will be much appreciated.

[helenjp]

I've often thought that the best way to understand how a Japanese meal works is to eat the traditional breakfast at an inn.

[Hiroyuki]

I've often thought that the best way to understand how a Japanese meal works is to eat the traditional breakfast at an inn.

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Thanks, Helen.

It may be a good start, but lukewarm, not piping hot, rice served at many inns immediately turn me off...

[BarbaraY]

I'm afraid that most Americans don't have a clue. "Sushi? Oh no! I won't eat raw fish." Seem to be a very common reaction.

Do I understand it? Not completely but I keep learning. I do understand the rice and seasonal part.

Cooking seasonally just seems logical to me in any form of cooking be it Japanese, American, or something else.

[shellfishfiend]

In 2000, we moved to from a small town to a city that actually had a few Japanese restaurants-mainly sushi and hibachi. I fell in love with the food-the simple, clean dishes left me feeling satisfied after meals, not stuffed and miserable. I bought a Janeses cookbook and began researching the cuisine.

I love the fact that Janeses recipes often only call for 3 or 4 ingredients-so they must be of the best quality possible.

Last night, my husband and I went out for sushi. The restaruant is a combination hibachi grill/sushi place. The grills are the more popular option here, although I dislike them. I asked my husband if he thought hibachi grills were present in Japan, or was it a Western invention. I know grilled food is popular in Japan, but the show aspects (breaking eggs with cleavers and tossing shrimp shells) don't strick me as typical of the Japanese who seem to respect their food more. So, am I right or wrong about this?

I know I have much more to learn about Japanese cuisine, and egullet has been an amazing tutor. My dream is to save up enough money for a trip to Japan. until then, I will continue to learn and cook new dishes. Is the food misunderstood by most Americans? Yes, I think so. But, hopefully not by this Amercian.

[smallworld]

Yes, Japanese cuisine is misunderstood in my home country of Canada, and probably most other countries as well. But then again, there are few cuisines that are fully understood outside their native territories. I seriously doubt the average Canadian really understands Spanish or Cajun food, for example. In fact, even familiar cuisines like Italian and Mexican are terribly misunderstood.

But the thing is, restaurants serving authentic cuisines do exist in most big cities in Canada (and I assume the US as well). So if people want to get a fuller understanding of almost any cuisine, they can. Except Japanese. Most Japanese restaurants, whether owned by Japanese or not, prefer to offer a very limited menu of westernized Japanese food.

I don't know if this is because most diners aren't interested in authentic Japanese food, or if the restaurant owners think most diners aren't interested in authentic Japanese food. But in any case, I think much of the blame for the misunderstanding of Japanese cuisine lies with the restaurants.

[helenjp]

lukewarm, not piping hot, rice

Consider yourself lucky to get it lukewarm! At the inn where my husband and I spent our honeymoon, the food was so cold it was rock-hard, and the owner was wearing two cardigans, a muffler, legwarmers over trousers, and fingerless gloves...indoors!

Of course, there's not just one type of Japanese food, and probably surprisingly few Japanese have a good understanding of how a set menu is put together.

I think hibachi cooking is notr about formal menus and formal service, but about snacks with sake, or to a lesser degree, tea, as host and guests cook themselves up a little something over the charcoal and ash braziers used to heat the room.

[prasantrin]

Last night, my husband and I went out for sushi. The restaruant is a combination hibachi grill/sushi place. The grills are the more popular option here, although I dislike them. I asked my husband if he thought hibachi grills were present in Japan, or was it a Western invention. I know grilled food is popular in Japan, but the show aspects (breaking eggs with cleavers and tossing shrimp shells) don't strick me as typical of the Japanese who seem to respect their food more. So, am I right or wrong about this?

←

I've seen "shows" at Japanese teppanyaki places in Japan, too (although they tend to be lower key than in the US/Canada). But teppanyaki is different from hibachi, and I've never seen a show at a hibachi place here (I don't think I've ever been to a hibachi restaurant here, unless your idea of "hibachi" is different from my idea of "hibachi").

[Hiroyuki]

I'm afraid that most Americans don't have a clue. "Sushi? Oh no! I won't eat raw fish." Seem to be a very common reaction.

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It's really unfortunate that "sushi" is mistakenly considered to mean only a combination of vinegard rice and raw fish. Such word combinations as "sushi/sashimi" sound quite strange to native Japanese like me.

[Hiroyuki]

Last night, my husband and I went out for sushi. The restaruant is a combination hibachi grill/sushi place. The grills are the more popular option here, although I dislike them. I asked my husband if he thought hibachi grills were present in Japan, or was it a Western invention. I know grilled food is popular in Japan, but the show aspects (breaking eggs with cleavers and tossing shrimp shells) don't strick me as typical of the Japanese who seem to respect their food more. So, am I right or wrong about this?

←

I'm not qualified to answer this question, but I think such Benihana-style acrobatic performances by chefs are purely American.

I know I have much more to learn about Japanese cuisine, and egullet has been an amazing tutor. My dream is to save up enough money for a trip to Japan. until then, I will continue to learn and cook new dishes. Is the food misunderstood by most Americans? Yes, I think so. But, hopefully not by this Amercian.

You must be an exceptional American.

[SuzySushi]

Yes, I think most Americans misunderstand Japanese cuisine -- but like smallworld indicates, most Americans also misunderstand "more familiar" cuisines like Italian (pizza and spaghetti), Mexican (tacos), and even Chinese (egg rolls and sweet & sour pork)!

Even here in Hawaii, where Japanese food is a deep part of the local culture, most Japanese restaurants serve only certain dishes and not the full range of Japanese cuisine.

Also, in my opinion, Japanese restaurants in Hawaii fall into five categories:

1) Restaurants that cater to Japanese tourists who are unadventurous and want familiar food -- some of these are expensive kaiseki restaurants, and others are cheap ramen & gyoza places.

2) Restaurants that cater to American and other Western tourists -- such as Benihana-type places. Many of these are not owned and/or staffed by Japanese.

Japanese restaurants in hotels tend to be either type 1 or type 2.

3) "Local" Japanese okazu-ya operated by Japanese who have been in Hawaii for generations. These are kind of like diners* (maybe in Japan you'd call them "family restaurants"?), and the food is not high quality.

4) A handful of restaurants whose chefs are trained in traditional Japanese food cuisine, that serve "authentic" traditional Japanese dishes.

5) Another handful of restaurants with Japanese chefs who prepare their own style of "new wave" Japanese cuisine (often with "fusion" or European influences).

As Culinista notes, most restaurants serve the same menu all year. However, a few do pay attention to seasonality by offering special dishes based on the availability of seasonal ingredients.

As far as my personal understanding of Japanese cuisine goes, my initial education came from dining, shopping, and cooking side-by-side Japanese friends (and their mothers!) in the USA and Japan. They took me to their favorite restaurants, I visited or stayed in their homes, went shopping with them, helped cook the family meals. They taught me how to cook rice in a saucepan, how to make dashi from scratch, how to clean squid, how to judge the temperature of cooking oil with a chopstick.... all first-hand lessons that were invaluable. I've followed that up by reading all the cookbooks and essays I can get my hands on. And I'm still learning new things, even after cooking Japanese food for more than 30 years.

Edited October 2, 2006 by SuzySushi (log)

[docsconz]

I am not sure that any cuisine is ever fully "understood" by anyone. Cuisines are really much too complex and ever-evolving for that. Just think of regional variations alone. "American" food is much different today than it was even ten or twenty years ago. I imagine "Japanese" food is too. I am also not sure that it is really important beyond a personal quest that a particular cuisine be fully understood, so long as its elements are appreciated and one has a mind open to its possibilities.

[Hiroyuki]

Yes, Japanese cuisine is misunderstood in my home country of Canada, and probably most other countries as well. But then again, there are few cuisines that are fully understood outside their native territories. I seriously doubt the average Canadian really understands Spanish or Cajun food, for example. In fact, even familiar cuisines like Italian and Mexican are terribly misunderstood.

But the thing is, restaurants serving authentic cuisines do exist in most big cities in Canada (and I assume the US as well). So if people want to get a fuller understanding of almost any cuisine, they can. Except Japanese. Most Japanese restaurants, whether owned by Japanese or not, prefer to offer a very limited menu of westernized Japanese food.

I don't know if this is because most diners aren't interested in authentic Japanese food, or if the restaurant owners think most diners aren't interested in authentic Japanese food. But in any case, I think much of the blame for the misunderstanding of Japanese cuisine lies with the restaurants.

←

Thanks smallworld for your reply.

Needless to say, I don't expect that the average Canadian fully understands Japanese cuisine. While I appreciate any comments, I'm interested to hear what you thought of Japanese cuisine before you came to Japan, how you learned it, and any suggestions for those who wish to learn Japanese cuisine.

[Hiroyuki]

Yes, I think most Americans misunderstand Japanese cuisine -- but like smallworld indicates, most Americans also misunderstand "more familiar" cuisines like Italian (pizza and spaghetti), Mexican (tacos), and even Chinese (egg rolls and sweet & sour pork)!

Even here in Hawaii, where Japanese food is a deep part of the local culture, most Japanese restaurants serve only certain dishes and not the full range of Japanese cuisine.

Also, in my opinion, Japanese restaurants in Hawaii fall into five categories:

1) Restaurants that cater to Japanese tourists who are unadventurous and want familiar food -- some of these are expensive kaiseki restaurants, and others are cheap ramen & gyoza places.

2) Restaurants that cater to American and other Western tourists -- such as Benihana-type places. Many of these are not owned and/or staffed by Japanese.

Japanese restaurants in hotels tend to be either type 1 or type 2.

3) "Local" Japanese okazu-ya operated by Japanese who have been in Hawaii for generations. These are kind of like diners* (maybe in Japan you'd call them "family restaurants"?), and the food is not high quality.

4) A handful of restaurants whose chefs are trained in traditional Japanese food cuisine, that serve "authentic" traditional Japanese dishes.

5) Another handful of restaurants with Japanese chefs who prepare their own style of "new wave" Japanese cuisine (often with "fusion" or European influences).

As Culinista notes, most restaurants serve the same menu all year. However, a few do pay attention to seasonality by offering special dishes based on the availability of seasonal ingredients.

As far as my personal understanding of Japanese cuisine goes, my initial education came from dining, shopping, and cooking side-by-side Japanese friends (and their mothers!) in the USA and Japan. They took me to their favorite restaurants, I visited or stayed in their homes, went shopping with them, helped cook the family meals. They taught me how to cook rice in a saucepan, how to make dashi from scratch, how to clean squid, how to judge the temperature of cooking oil with a chopstick.... all first-hand lessons that were invaluable. I've followed that up by reading all the cookbooks and essays I can get my hands on. And I'm still learning new things, even after cooking Japanese food for more than 30 years.

←

Thanks SuzySushi for your detailed reply.

You are a great person, learning new things even today. I'm still learning too about my own and other cuisines, mainly on eGullet. Learning is fun!

I should have added this question when I started this thread: Do you think that Japanese cuisine is worth learning?

I do believe so. I believe that Japanese cuisine has so much to offer to the rest of the world. For instance, the hierarchical structure of a Japanese meal with rice at the top and the wide variety of ingredients especially fish and other seafood.

[Hiroyuki]

I am not sure that any cuisine is ever fully "understood" by anyone. Cuisines are really much too complex and ever-evolving for that. Just think of regional variations alone. "American" food is much different today than it was even ten or twenty years ago. I imagine "Japanese" food is too. I am also not sure that it is really important beyond a personal quest that a particular cuisine be fully understood, so long as its elements are appreciated and one has a mind open to its possibilities.

←

As I clarified in my previous two posts here, I really don't expect the average person fully understands Japanese cuisine or any other cuisine for that matter.

As you implied, Japanese cuisine has undergone considerable changes, especially since World War II, and I can say it has changed for the better for the most part.

Whether it is important to learn a particular cuisine largely depends on whether that cuisine is worth learning. As I wrote in my last post, I believe Japanese cuisine is worth learning.

[BarbaraY]

[quote name=Hiroyuki' date='Oct 2 2006, 02:26 AM

I should have added this question when I started this thread: Do you think that Japanese cuisine is worth learning?

I do believe so. I believe that Japanese cuisine has so much to offer to the rest of the world. For instance, the hierarchical structure of a Japanese meal with rice at the top and the wide variety of ingredients especially fish and other seafood.

I do think Japanese cooking is definitely worth learning. What brought me to eGullet in the first place was researching Japanese food.

Like Suzy, I study anything I can find on Japanese cooking, then sort it out in my own mind as to authenticity.

[docsconz]

I am not sure that any cuisine is ever fully "understood" by anyone. Cuisines are really much too complex and ever-evolving for that. Just think of regional variations alone. "American" food is much different today than it was even ten or twenty years ago. I imagine "Japanese" food is too. I am also not sure that it is really important beyond a personal quest that a particular cuisine be fully understood, so long as its elements are appreciated and one has a mind open to its possibilities.

←

As I clarified in my previous two posts here, I really don't expect the average person fully understands Japanese cuisine or any other cuisine for that matter.

As you implied, Japanese cuisine has undergone considerable changes, especially since World War II, and I can say it has changed for the better for the most part.

Whether it is important to learn a particular cuisine largely depends on whether that cuisine is worth learning. As I wrote in my last post, I believe Japanese cuisine is worth learning.

←

I did not mean to imply that Japanese or other cuisines are not worth learning, just that it is nearly impossible for any one person to fully understand something that is constantly shifting and evolving. Besides the learning is fun.

[shellfishfiend]

I believe Japanese cuisine is worth learning. Any cuisine that places such a strong emphasis on quality ingredients and seasonal foods is worth learning. Japanese cuisine features balanced meals and IMO-a good understanding of portion size.

I still get excited everytime I come home from the Asian market with a new ingredient to experiment with. I think that is part of the appeal for me, the fact that I have to go to a little extra trouble to source Japanese food items.

[Cheeko]

I mulled over this question for a reply and now I'll mull over your clarifications

For me, really learning (and relearning) about Japanese food is about retracing my past and my parents past. There is a bond with food and memories -- more so when you talk about the food of cultures and regions that are used to growing and harvesting their own food, rather than going to the market and buying it.

I think any culture/region that is connected to the food it grows and harvests is worth learning, especially in this day and age when we have grown more and more disjunct from the spirit of the "fruit of the sea and of the mountains."

The more I learn about Japanese food I also learn there are many cross-cultural similarities interms of the approach to cooking/seasoning. The closer you get to the coastal communities, the more you see people preferring fish as fish -- not covered in a basil-chili-mango pesto or something else overpowering. They want it simple and clean. The further south you move down the east coast, the more rice you see in the regional cooking.

I think misunderstood might be too strong of a word... I would probably think more interms of disconnected in general with food... ?

[mizducky]

I think my learning curve with Japanese food has probably resembled that of any number of American food geeks.

Naturally curious about any and all new cuisines, but kind of clueless, I was first turned on to the few exemplars of Japanese food then available in the 1980s in a reasonably big city (Boston). So at that time, in my 20s, all I knew about Japanese food was sushi; tempura; teryaki; miso soup; and some vague notions that some stewed dishes existed. And I was exposed to at least the Americanized version of a kaiseki meal.

Oh, and I picked up a kind of weird snobbery in that I looked down on Benihana and its ilk as strictly for American rubes who were afraid of raw fish.

Somewhere in there, I did my brief adventure into macrobiotics, and unintentionally got exposed to a whole bunch of other, more homey/homely Japanese ingredients, like all the sea vegetables. At the same time, I had no idea just how removed from mainstream Japanese cuisine the whole brown rice trip was.

I've learned a good bit more since, from books, from friends, and from the Internet (including this site), but I still feel like I have tons to learn.

I do feel that Japanese cuisines, and Asian cuisines in general, have terrific lessons to teach me as an American about more healthful ways of eating. Just the portion sizes and the ratios of animal protein to starches to vegetables in a typical Japanese meal is IMO much more heathy than the still-standard American meal of a huge slab of meat, lots of carbohydrates, and maybe a little (overprocessed) vegetables as an afterthought. And Japanese fermented foods (miso, shoyu, pickles) and sea vegetables just offer so much nutrition and flavor, for which there are no real equivalents in American cuisine.

[sanrensho]

I would say one of the biggest oversights about our perception of Japanese food here in North America is the lack of recognition for regional Japanese cuisines or regional variations.

Of course, this is not something exclusive to Japanese cuisine. It simply reflects our fairly shallow perception of Japanese food here in North America, despite its surface popularity.

Edited October 2, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[Ohba]

I would say one of the biggest oversights about our perception of Japanese food here in North America is the lack of recognition for regional Japanese cuisines or regional variations.

Of course, this is not something exclusive to Japanese cuisine. It simply reflects our fairly shallow perception of Japanese food here in North America, despite its surface popularity.

←

(e

I can see both sides of the argument here. First off, not that many restaurants are about education, they're just businesses. So visiting a few even supposedly authentic restaurants isn't going to be much of an education in a country's cuisine. And without visiting the country in question it's almost impossible to get a proper idea even of the ingredients used, let alone the subtleties of regional variation, even if you read up. So is it shallow that North Americans don't appreciate this? Not really. I mean, why would they? On the other hand, I can only feel pity for the kind of people who won't eat fish or try to expand their horizons a little. That's just pointless.

Still, excessive reverence for another country's food, or timidity about one's own supposed ignorance, can be going too far the other way. High-priced Japanese restaurants overseas perpetuated a high-end image for Japanese food, and perhaps kaiseki has encouraged us to believe that it is all about spareness, beautiful presentation, seasonal ingredients. Of course that plays an important role in a lot of food even at the lower end. However, there's a lot of earthier, hearty foods, large portions, and lack of subtlety to be found as well. Which is also good. One of the best, or at least most enjoyable introductions to food and of course drink in Japan is to hit an izakaya. A good izakaya. Myself, I don't spend much time in the realm of kaiseki (actually I've never had a kaiseki meal) but I eat plenty at both the expensive end when I can afford it, and the cheap end, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of Japanese food. Probably won't ever understand it especially well either, but that doesn't bother me.

[smallworld]

Thanks smallworld for your reply.

Needless to say, I don't expect that the average Canadian fully understands Japanese cuisine.  While I appreciate any comments, I'm interested to hear what you thought of Japanese cuisine before you came to Japan, how you learned it, and any suggestions for those who wish to learn Japanese cuisine.

←

OK. I think I have a fairly good understanding of Japanese cuisine. Perhaps even better than my understanding of Canadian cuisine (I still struggle for an answer when people ask me to describe Canadian food). But not growing up in Japan is a major handicap, since a familiarity of Japanese homecooking is vital to the understanding of the cuisine. The number of regular home-cooked meals I've had here can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The very few times I've eaten at a Japanese person's home have been special occasions where special food was served, and this includes at my in-law's house.

So not only do I not know how home-style foods are supposed to taste, I have no idea how to serve them: what dishes should be used for what foods, what side the soup bowl should be on, what food matches with what, what direction a whole fish should face, etc.

What did I think of Japanese cuisine before I came? I knew very little about it but was eager to learn. I already enjoyed exploring new cuisines, and loved Chinese and South-east Asian food. And as a former vegetarian I was familiar with quite a few Japanese ingredients, like tofu and its various forms, miso, soba and seaweeds. Naturally I assumed that the Japanese were fish-eating vegetarians!

How did I learn about Japanese cuisine? Eating out lots and buying a few good English-language cookbooks was a start. But what really helped was watching Japanese cooking shows and using recipes from Japanese food magazines and cookbooks.

I'm still learning though, and would like to improve my knowledge not only of home-cooking, but of the regional cuisines. I went on a cross-country tour of Japan earlier this year and was just amazed at the differences between regions. If travel was cheaper in Japan I'd be touring the country every weekend trying the various regional specialties...

[sanrensho]

So is it shallow that North Americans don't appreciate this? Not really. I mean, why would they?

Just to clarify, I'm not calling North Americans shallow for not having a knowledge of regional Japanese cuisine. I'm saying that their knowledge of Japanese regional cuisine is shallow. There's a difference there, the former being judgmental and the latter a statement of fact.

In comparison, there's a better understanding of regional differences in Mexican, Italian, French and Chinese cuisine. I believe the lack of familiarity with Japanese regional cuisine is due to two factors: low levels of immigration from Japan and Japan's relative lack of popularity as an overseas destination, compared with the other countries I mentioned. (It also doesn't help that a disproportionately large percentage of Japanese restaurants are run by people who have never set foot in the country.)

Also missing from the typical North American's perception of Japanese cuisine is an understanding of the popularity of non-Japanese cuisines like Chinese, Korean and Italian food, and how these have had an impact on what Japanese eat on a day-to-day basis. In the same vein, I'd say most of the non-foodie population in North America would be surprised to learn that Japan is a mecca for French-influenced pastry.

Edited October 3, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[tantan]

Of course all cuisines are misunderstood by the general population. In Australia I think we have the most multicultural society in the world. Lots of different cuisines to choose from. But most people will only eat the "representitive" dishes or the Australian versions of everything - it doesn't help that that's all you can usually find unless you know where to go.

But surely Japanese and other cuisines are becoming more understood by a larger group of people and more fully by those people. Coming from a small city to a larger one in Australia I can see just how much more people are aware of what is available in other cuisines such as Japan in more populated areas.

Sushi is becoming much more popular to the general population. It's becoming more and more common to see people you'd expect to be eating Burger King eating sushi instead. Of course it's usually the Australian "teriyaki chicken sushi" or "fried prawn sushi" but occassionally people will try something you'd actually find in Japan.

There are a lot more sushi train restaurants which do offer a similar style of food to Japan. In these restaurants you can find things such as udon, chawan mushi or katsudon more commonly.

Having a large Japanese population means that there are some real Japanese restaurants which cater to Japanese in certain parts of Australia. You can find more and more Australians venturing in to broaden their perspective on what real Japanese food is.

Of course food you eat in restaurants is never really a fair representation. To begin to understood people would need to go to Japan and eat in someone's home, develop a taste for nattou, pickles and umeboshi, go to izakaya, eat nabe in winter etc.

Japanese cuisine is definately misunderstood. But I think more and more people are bothering to find out more about it and I definately see a lot more people who I'd expect to see chowing down on a Big Mac with a sushi roll stuffed in their mouth instead. Sure it's not a fair representation of what Japanese food is, but it's a start.

I'd say Japanese cuisine is slowly becoming more understood.

This thread has almost got me pumped enough to start one of those sentence finishing threads.... "Japanese food is...." e.g curry pan and tuna-mayo onigiri when you missed the last train OR hot soba at kiyomizu OR making your own tako yaki in Osaka etc.