Japanese-cook-wannabe series: entry # 1

Nov 1, 2007:

Yesterday, I finally visited the out-of-the-way Japanese grocery/sushi bar I had noticed at least 6 months ago. This was tucked into the corner near Landmark and Park Square's parking area/jeep terminal lot.

Alas and alack, I found out that they were doing the "all-items at  50%" since Park Square is going to be torn down and replaced by a hotel. October 31 was their last day! What a waste that I didn't know about it earlier or else I could have found a way to cart home the Japanese rice, sake, and other ingredients.

As it was, I was partially satisfied to finally find the pink thingie (I call it that in my mind, but which is I think what is known as a"Sakura denpo"), used in the kani salad during that Jap food fest, as well as a couple of Japanese snacks e.g. Green tea pretzels, spicy seaweed strips, and Japanese pancake to name a few.

Anyway, it has now inspired me to share a series on Japanese food - whether I am the cook, the eater, the researcher; whether its about preparation, etiquette, eating etc.; whether I am expounding, cutting and pasting from articles, quoting verbatim or rattling my head off foolishly - it will be anything goes my way style.

Today, there will be two simple topics for me to write about.

I. Japanese cooking flavors

Saltiness, sweetness and sourness. Obvious, ne?  ("ne" is like an expression in Nihonggo..like "di ba"?)

The listed flavours above can be produced by using in tandem or individually the following basic ingredients:

   * soy sauce (I hear the japs may be pronouncing this as soy-sosu hehehe)

   * Japanese rice wine or "sake"

   * miso (soya bean paste which has been fermented)

    * mirin (variant of sake with sugar)

    * sea salt

    * caster sugar

    * last but not least, dashi (Japanese stock produced from dried bonito...or dried kelp)

II. Eating Etiquette

Chopsticks or "o-hashi" is a Chinese invention that has been assimilated into the Jap culture. While I will not attempt anymore to describe here the correct way to hold them, let me share with you some of the basic principles of etiquette in eating Japanese food with or without chopsticks.

1. Do not spear your food with chopsticks (sashi-bashi).

2. Do not use your chopsticks to pull a dish toward you or push it away from you (yose-bashi).

3. Do not hold your chopsticks over a dish while deciding what to eat (mayoi-bashi).

4. Never pass food between chopsticks. This mimics the Buddhist practice of handling the bones of the dead (hashi-watashi). Urgh.

5. Unless you are a lefty, use your left hand to hold the rice bowl and your right hand to use your chopsticks to scoop up the rice.

6. Japanese noodles can be slurped with much enthusiasm while holding the noodles between your chopsticks. But Japanese soups should be sipped with uhm...a little less enthusiam :-)

7. If you are in a formal situation, do not eat food directly from a large, communal dish. First place food from the large dish into the small dish provided for your portion and then take food from that.

And so I bid you a fond itadakimasu! (いただきます)

(this is uttered before eating as it is like thanking God for the food that you have received or at least thanking the person who prepared the food you are now about to eat)