Eating and cooking Japanese

Perhaps one of the healthiest cuisines in the world is that of Japan. Except for tempura and tonkatsu, the Japanese hardly cook with oil. Seafood is found in most of their dishes – even flavorings consist of fish flakes, such as bonito. The Chinese introduced soy sauce to Japan and thus most of their dipping mixes are made of this, plus beef broth and mirin or sake. Our family often goes to Japanese restaurants when dining out.

Having bought and received an extensive collection of cookbooks, a few of our favorites are those on Japanese cookery. At first, we thought it would be difficult to find the proper ingredients, but there are now a lot of Japanese groceries (one of them at the Waltermart mall on Pasong Tamo in Makati) carrying practically everything we need to produce an authentic sukiyaki or the crispiest tempura and even sashimi and sushi.

We now share with our readers a few tips on Japanese cooking. A few of the basic elements are daikon radish; dried bonito flakes, for making stock; dried seaweed for soups, enokitake mushrooms also for soups, available either fresh or canned; yaki tofu which is grilled tofu, easily done at home; fish paste; seaweed for sushi which contains a lot of protein; sake, used not only for drinking but for cooking; sesame oil and seeds; spices; and soy sauce, vinegar and wasabi, Japanese horseradish which should be used sparingly unless you go for truly hot flavor. Bottled marinades are also good to store in your cupboard. They come in sukiyaki and barbecue flavors. You also need the proper set of pans, casseroles, and sharp knives.

For sashimi and sushi, check that the fish has not been out of the water for 24 hours. The flesh must be elastic and firm. For grilling, be sure fish or meat is done on high heat, which seals in the flavor, resulting in soft and moist flesh inside. Tempura is a very popular dish and you can easily do this at home. The secret to keeping prawns from curling after frying is to make a few incisions along the belly. For batter for about half a kilo of prawns, a few pieces of fish fillet, two green peppers, two eggplants, and two large shitake mushrooms, you will need two eggs, one and a half cup of iced water and two cups sifted flour. Mix into lumps, coat each of the ingredients, dusting them with tempura coating (available in supermarkets) and deep fry in hot oil. For dipping sauce, mix one and three-fourths cups of dashi stock, one third cup of soy sauce and one third cup mirin. Dashi powder is available in Japanese stores.

Simmering is a technique widely used in Japanese cookery. The seasoning for this is normally dashi with sake, mirin, sugar, salt, soy sauce or sometimes miso. This is also a good marinade before lightly cooking gindara in a little oil. When nearly done, pour the marinade and cook for another two minutes, coating the fish with the sauce. Serve at once. 

One of our favorites at the old Manila Hilton’s Port Orient was their beef sirloin teriyaki. We were not quite the cook then, thus we didn’t learn to do this dish until much later. We used to buy a variety of teriyaki sauces, but realized we can make this at home. Mix two tablespoons of fresh ginger, one fourth cup soy sauce, one teaspoon sake, one half teaspoon sugar and one clove crushed garlic. Marinate the beef slices for about 30 minutes. Grill, pouring the sauce in the course of cooking. Be careful not to over cook the meat. Voila! You have a dish as delicious as that done by professional chefs.

Like some Korean dishes (the Japanese won’t like this comparison), sukiyaki is cooked on the table. The name comes from two words – suki which means “hoe” and yaki meaning “broiled.” It came about during the period when meat was forbidden as food in the country. The farmers would use a hoe as their skillet. This is a complete meal with meat, onions, leeks, shitake mushrooms, tofu, Chinese cabbage, spinach and bean threads. Boil dashi stock, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake. Drop in the ingredients one by one, add more broth,ß then dig in!

Fruits are the Japanese dessert. But if you are up to it, make coffee jelly, a fine end to a satisfying meal.

Japanese cuisine is rich in flavor. It has been innovated on in restaurant menus, but if you would rather have authentic Japanese meals in your own home and find joy in cooking, get yourself a Japanese cookbook.

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