A typical Japanese meal consists of four parts; a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, pickled vegetables, and a fish or meat.
While rice is the staple food in Japan, it can be replaced by a number of noodles such as udon, soba, somen, or ramen. All of these pastas have very similar flavors; they differ in their textures and colors. Udon is a thick noodle made from wheat flour. They typically have a more chewy texture than other noodles and are typically served in a hot broth, but occasionally served cold. Soba is thinner than udon but still a relatively thick noodle. It is made from buckwheat and has a dark, greyish color. Somen is made of wheat flour just like udon except it is stretched much thinner. Unlike most pasta served in America, soba and somen are most often served cold and with a dipping sauce. Lastly is ramen, which is a thin egg noodle, about the same diameter as soba, that is almost always served in a hot broth. Ramen is the most widely known variety of Japanese noodle due to instant ramen gaining so much popularity in the past few years. Instant ramen is typically just cooked noodles and a packet of spices, but the real deal is far more complex. A typical bowl of ramen is served in a bowl of hot broth flavored with shoyu (soy sauce) or miso (fermented soy beans) topped with a variety of mix-ins such as roast pork, bean sprouts, or eggs.
Miso soup is a soup native to Japan that consists of a stock called dashi, miso paste, tofu, and whatever else the maker chooses to include. It is a Japanese custom to include solid ingredients that significantly contrast from each other; such as negi, an onion with a very strong taste, and tofu, a bean curd with very little flavor. The way that miso soup is prepared is rather complex. Typically, the majority of the solid ingredients are left to simmer in a pot of dashi while the miso is kept separate. If the miso is cooked, the flavor and biology of the paste is altered. Once that solid ingredients have been simmered accordingly, the miso is combined with the rest of the soup and any remaining ingredients are added. An instant version of the soup is distributed heavily throughout Japan, but not so much internationally. It is made by dehydrating the ingredients which can be stored for long increments of time and then later re-hydrated with boiling water and combined with either a miso powder or paste.
Japanese pickled vegetables, also called tsukemono, are vegetables left in a salt, brine, or bed of rice bran for an extended period of time. Tsukemono is hardly ever served alone as dish; it is almost always served as a side dish to another entree or as a garnish. In order to make tsukemono, one must have vegetables for pickling, a container, salt, and something to apply pressure onto the pickles. Every different pickling ingredient produces a different type of pickle with a different name. A pickle made with salt is shiozuke, vinegar is suzuke, sugar and vinegar is amasuzuke, miso is misozuke, soy sauce is shoyuzuke, and there are many, many more.
Japanese people eat a lot more fish than Americans, which may be related to why Japan is home to the longest living people on the planet. They eat fish in almost every way possible; from raw to grilled to barbecued. But their huge intake of fish can cause some pretty big problems. Japan alone consumes about 75% of the world's tuna supplies and has nearly driven certain species of fish to extinction. Fish, a lots of it, was just about the only animal the Japanese ate until relatively recently. It wasn't until the 1870s that western countries began to have an influence on Japanese culture and introduced meats. Since then meats have become a core part of the Japanese diet with dishes such as yakitori, yakiniku, and gyudon, meaning grilled chicken, Korean barbecue, and beef bowl respectively. And of course with restaurant chains such as McDonald's and Taco Bell making their way into the country, meats have become much more common than they were 200 years ago.
While on our trip to Japan, I've had the pleasure of eating Japanese food for every meal. I've had my fair share of noodles, miso soup, pickled vegetables, and many, many meats. With all the research I've done, I expected to know all the things we would eat, but I was very wrong. There were plenty of things that I had never tried before, or even heard about. While Japanese desserts are mostly similar to those in western countries, there are a few unique to the country. One particularly interesting Japanese is dango (dan pronounced like han as in Han Solo and go is pronounced how you would expect it to). Dango is a type of colorful rice dumpling, similar to mochi. The particular type of dango I'm referencing and have pictured below is called Hanami dango, which is most often made during cherry blossom season but available all year round. Dango is less about flavor and more about texture. The dumplings have almost no flavor but have a texture like nothing else I've ever experienced. If you ever get the chance, they're certainly worth a try, especially if you can get them in Japan!
My personal favorite dish in Japan was ramen. I've had my share of ramen all over the U.S., but never in another country, let alone its origin country. To say I was excited to try some authentic ramen was an understatement. On our trip, we had plenty of udon our first few days, but no ramen. It wasn't until our one-night stay in Hiroshima that we finally made our way to a ramen shop for dinner. We ordered and our food was ready almost instantly. It was served to us steaming hot and absolutely delicious. I had a soy sauce based ramen while my friend Sunni vegetable based one. I was unable to take a picture of mine due to low storage on my phone, but Sunni took a lovely picture of her ramen, which is pictured below. Compared to all the ramen I've had in the past, this was far better. I can't precisely pinpoint what made it so much better, because I'm no ramen expert. It may have been that the ingredients were fresher or that it was made by a professional, but really, I have no clue. If I had to make a guess as to why it was so much better than American ramen, I'd have to say that it was because it was authentic rather than an imitation. When it comes to foods that originate in only one country, you must understand that if you get it from anywhere other than its origin, it won't be as good. Crepes from France, fish & chips from England, dumplings from China, and ramen from Japan will always be better than American imitations.
Works Cited:
https://www.japan-zone.com/culture/food.shtml#seafood_meat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miso_soup
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukemono
https://gurunavi.com/en/japanfoodie/2015/08/tsukemono.html?__ngt__=TT0cafe67ce001ac1e4ac717JpILht-HOKKR2x0nkYbd7Q
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cuisine
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