Steaming hot 'sticky buns' on the streets of Yokohama.

Fresh vegetables sold on the streets of Kamakura.

Freshly frozen tuna in Tsukiji Fish Market.

Sushi bar near Tsukiji Fish Market, where we enjoyed the freshest sushi imaginable for breakfast.
 

Ameyokocho Market. A busy market in the heart of Tokyo, full of cheerful people selling anything and everything; fish, vegetables, shoes, handbags... Here I'm examining some persimmons. A common Japanese fruit.

Japanese cuisine is not all about sushi. Having just returned from a recent trip to Japan, I found Japanese cuisine to be rich in diversity, and it is healthy, delicious and the presentation is beautiful. Cuisine is a cultural expression and I love to submerge myself in it, to learn about people and understand their way of life. However it’s not for everyone, just ask my vegetarian friend who had a hard time finding culinary diversity and mostly ate vegetarian tempura, rice and chocolate. Even having a written note in Japanese stating that she is a vegetarian, she was frequently asked “Would you like some chicken?”

Japan is surrounded by the sea and is culturally tied to eating a lot of fish, shellfish, squid, crab, lobster, and seaweed. Although it is not considered a meat eating nation, you can also easily find dishes with chicken or pork. Japan does have a traditional vegan cuisine known as Shojinryori, which has been created by Zen Buddhists. However purely vegetarian dishes are hard to find because most vegetable dishes are prepared with fish stock or garnishes.

Rice is one of Japan’s staple foods and it has been cultivated by Japan for over 2000 years. To support domestic rice production, the government enforces very high tariffs on imported rice as a result most all rice consumed in Japan is nationally grown. Japanese rice is a short grain rice that becomes a little sticky when cooked. It is called “hakumai” meaning the outer shell has been polished away. The second popular rice variety is called “mochi” and is stickier. A traditional Japanese meal consists of a bowl of rice, pickled cucumbers, dikon, Chinese cabbage served on the side as an appetizer, a bowl of miso soup, and some fish or meat, vegetables and of course green tea. Coming from a Polish background where a lot of things are pickled, I found it interesting that in Japan pickling was also popular. However a moment of thought reminded me that pickling traditionally is a form of preserving food in many cultures.

Miso soup is a fundamental part of Japanese cuisine. Along with rice, we had it practically all the time no matter whether it was breakfast or dinner. Of course just like in many other cuisines, a staple soup varies as much as each individual that makes it. Nevertheless, this soup is delicious, a little salty, most with some small bits of tofu, seaweed, and not too much else. Much better than the instant miso soup I had from a single-serving packet. The backbone of this soup is miso paste of which there are 3 types (red, white and black), and stock, mostly dashi stock to which the paste is mixed into. As I later found out, dashi stock is actually made made of niboshi (dried baby sardines) or konbu known as kelp (large seaweed) with katsuobushi (thin shavings of dried and smoked skipjack tuna). Sometimes, however, kelp or shiitake vegetarian dashi stocks are used. Unfortunately I found this fact after my trip to Japan…. And I doubt my vegetarian friend knew about it either. I know we enjoyed miso soup together several times. Interestingly aside from noodle soup dishes I readily didn’t encounter another soup type although I am sure there are many.

Although Japanese cuisine is not all about sushi, coming to Japan I really was looking forward to tasting true Japanese sushi. I intended to have an open mind and eat whatever it was. I found out that in Tokyo there is the largest fish market in all of Japan and the world. It is called the Tsukiji Fish Market, and it handles over 450 different types of fish and seafood from tiny sardines, to expansive caviar, to huge bluefin tuna. Tsukiji imports from over 60 countries from 6 continents. Tourists are welcome to come and see the live auction as well to see the inner processing of seafood handling. This was an amazing experience to be there in person as the market is a labyrinth of venders showcasing an array of fish, and seafood. Large frozen fish such as tuna and swordfish cut with powered saws and fresh tuna carved precisely with long knifes called oroshi hocho. The blade of this knife is 150 cm (60 inches) long in addition to a 30 cm (12 inch) handle, and can fillet a tuna in a single cut, although usually two to three people are needed to handle the knife and the tuna. We took pictures inside the market but avoided use of flash, these are professionals however I wouldn’t want them to get startled by the light, interfere and cut something other than the fish, these knifes are mesmerizing. After walking around the market, avoiding not only knifes but also hurrying scooters I truly felt that we have experienced a true nature of Japanese society, orderly, clean and slightly confusing.

As we left the market we went out for breakfast to a near by sushi restaurant. It is highly recommended that you try sushi near the market, it is said to be the best as it’s the freshest. We were not disappointed. The food was amazing; sushi was melt in your mouth fresh and delicious. We ordered a plate of house specialty that included Nigiri meaning small rice balls with fish on top such as raw tuna, salmon, as well Gunkan, small cups made of sushi rice and dried seaweed filled with seafood, like sea urchin and various kinds of fish eggs. We also had Norimaki (sushi rolls we are accustomed with), sushi rice and seafood rolled in dried seaweed sheets with tuna, salmon, cucumbers and who knows what else. All in all, it was an amazing experience as long as you keep an open mind to try new things. Sometimes the chef’s may have a hard time to explain what is what, and unless you have allergies it doesn’t matter too much what is what, but the experience is delectably unforgettable. One thing that was much different in the matter of having sushi in Japan in comparison to Canada or US, the wasabi that we all love so much is actually incorporated into the sushi itself. In fact it never is on the side of a serving plate as is pickled ginger. More so, it is a huge insult to ask for additional wasabi. Wasabi is incorporated to complement the taste of sushi and to ask for more is rude as it personally offends the chef.

Japanese cuisine does not disappoint. It is uncomplicated; simplicity in cooking is an applauded virtue to showcase the natural flavours of food. Japanese cuisine is breathtakingly delicious.