Hiroko Shimbo on Japanese Cuisine (1/4)

By Hiroko Shimbo The flavor of each Asian cuisine is built using specific ingredients, including spices, herbs, condiments, produce and protein. How these ingredients are used – both quantity and preparation method – produces the specific flavors of the country’s cuisine. And how these ingredients are used is largely influenced by the climate, geography, history and culture of the people of the country or region. Let me give you my view of Asian flavors, with an emphasis on Japanese cuisines as my principal example. Again I want to state that it is the amazing differences and variety among Asian cuisine that is so dramatic – and so enjoyable. Delicate Natural Flavors of Japanese Cuisine More than all other Asian cuisine Japanese cuisine respects the natural flavor (here I mean sweet, salty, sour, hot, umami and even bitternes) of each ingredient including produce, fish, meat and fowl. Furthermore ingredients in Japan are very seasonal. We have five distinct seasons, including the rainy season between spring and summer. From the mountainous country and long coast line stretching from north to south we get a wide variety of exciting seasonal ingredients for our table. We enjoy spring time mountain vegetables which tend to have natural bitterness. We enjoy summer fish which have lean and clean flavor. We enjoy autumn mushrooms which has strong umami and sweetness. We enjoy autumn and winter fish which are rich in fat and strong flavor. In order not to mask or destroy the specific, seasonal, natural flavors of each of these locally available ingredients, we prepare our dishes by methods that are quite different from other Asian cuisine. Is Umami unique of Japanese Food? As all other human beings do, Japanese tastes buds recogn izes the five flavor sensations – sweet, salty, sour, bitter and hot (spicy). In addition to this we recognize umami (the natural flavor attribute of glutamic acid). Speaking of umami, I think that today umami is a bit over exposed and an over rated as a topic. It is true that the Japanese chemist/scientist Kikunae Ikeda isolated umami in 1907 from kelp. But in other non-Asian cuisine, people have been using ingredients which have high umami content for centuries. It is found in such ingredients as tomatos, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, fish sauce, shiitake mushrooms, and many others. Moreover, the typical meat stew cooked with vegetables – a hearty country style dish in nearly every European culture contains much umami by the end of the preparation. So, we do not need to think of umami as Asian or as something new to be added to traditional Asian dishes. The interesting point about umami in Japanese cuisine is that 80% or more of Japanese dishes are made using the traditional Japanese stock, dashi, which is an infusion of kelp, perhaps the biggest food source of umami, and bonito flakes. Thus, Japanese foods are nearly always high in umami content. People talk about flavor sensations. People talk about umami too much. What people should develop is the ability to sense, taste and enjoy the natural flavors of each ingredient. I want people learn how to respect, preserve and enjoy the natural flavors of each ingredients and condiments. The Trends of Asian Food & Asian Cooking