Imagine dinning in a beautiful and balanced atmosphere. The food if fresh and delightful and the smell is savory. Japanese cuisine is intrigued by the eye by contrasts of color, shape, and texture. Japanese cuisine in elegant and tasteful and mostly consists of seafood, sushi, and tea.
Seafood is Japans biggest food group. Fish is as important in the Japanese diet as meat is in an American diet. The sea creatures themselves actually have a richer and deeper flavor. And because of Japans shallow bays, it makes life easier for both fish and fishermen. At Tokyo’s fifty-acre Tskiji Central Market, alone two thousand fish are caught and traded daily. A unique and traditional way of catching the fish is a fisherman would put out a basket of burning pine boughs to attract the fish. Then he holds onto twelve-foot ropes attached to trained birds called cormorants (fish catching birds). The birds each have a ring around their neck to keep it from swallowing the fish. When the bird is pulled back onto the boat it releases its catch. Many of Japanese dishes of fish are served raw.
Sushi is one of the most recognized Types of Japanese foods. Sushi is vinegary rice topped with raw fish and wrapped in laver. To roll sushi they use a sheet of laver on a bamboo mat or a cloth napkin and spread it within two inches of the edge with rice. Then lay watercress and strips of Kanpyo (dried gourd), mushrooms, and strips of tuna in rows across the middle of the rice. Use the mat to help roll up the laver, then turn the mat one or two times and squeeze gently. Unroll it out of the mat then cut it into one-inch wide rounds. Sushi has many other fillings and is accompanied by soy sauce and strips of pickled ginger. Buyers of sushi are not only picky about the freshness but also about the origin of its contents. Almost all menus of Japan contain many varieties of sushi. And many foods in Japan cannot be accompanied without a drink.
Kaiseki or “Tea ceremony†is best known for its food and tea. A host who prepares the tea traditional is meant to help concentrate and clear the mind. The guest drinks the tea by turning the cup to a suitable spot, sips slowly appreciating the tea’s froth, color, taste, and aroma. And when offered to a guest it must be sipped before any business can be done. One of the most recognized tea in Japan is green tea.
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