POGOGI – Japanese Food

One of the most popular dishes in Japan, Japanese curry is a delicacy that is not only enjoyed by the Japanese but also around the world. This Japanese curry is a flavorful sauce that is most commonly served with rice, noodles, or bread.

Japanese Curry by Glico

Japanese curry is made by stewing curry powder (which contains cayenne pepper or chili pepper), flour, oil, and other ingredients together to make “roux”.  The roux is added to meats and vegetables and is then cooked until the perfect thickness and consistency that one desires. Japanese curry is generally quite thick, so it requires a long cooking process.

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The island nation of Japan consumes more seaweed (both in quantity and variety) than anyone else.

When it comes to Japanese food, there are 3 main types of seaweed products:

1. Dry Toasted (Yaki Nori)

2. Dry Seasoned (Ajitsuke Nori)

3. Wet Seasoned (Tsukudani Nori)

Yaki Nori is likely the most well known of all seaweeds due mostly to its use for sushi rolls.

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If you’re looking to enhance your culinary arsenal with Japanese cooking products, be sure to check out Korin. From cooking knives to tableware, Korin has top quality goods with which to prepare your favourite Japanese food.

The caterpillar roll, which is often referred to as a dragon roll, is an enticing popular sushi roll. It is characterized by intricate layers of thinly sliced avocado pieces placed on top of the roll, making it resemble the back of a caterpillar. Many people like the caterpillar roll for its artistic look which is almost too pretty to eat!

Known for its unique insect like appearance, the common caterpillar roll contains rice, nori sheets (nori = seaweed), cucumber, eel (Unagi), and avocado.  The interior of the roll includes eel and cucumber and the exterior is rice with the layers of avocado. Some sushi restaurants also include watercress or another type of green matter as the “antennas” to add to the bug like appearance.

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Scenario: Let’s say you’re super hungry, on a super tight budget, and absolutely love sushi.

Question: What are you going to do?

Answer: You’ll probably end up grabbing a burger and fries.

Let’s face it – a Japanese food diet can do wonders for your health but leave your wallet clinging to life.

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As the population of the world grows so does the burden on the world’s food supply. Not only has global warming wreaked havoc on food supplies but the excessive demand for certain foods has also severely depleted certain resources we’ve come to adore.

In Central America, climate change and illegal fishing are wiping out their shrimp and lobster populations. In Japan, the Tsukiji fish market which has become a worldwide tourist attraction due to the surging popularity of Japanese food, particularly sushi, was bracing for a potential ban on the prized bluefin tuna. Three-quarters of the world’s bluefin tuna catch is auctioned off through Tsukiji.

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Could you imagine Japanese food without the presence of rice? Hard isn’t it.

Japan was introduced to rice directly from China (possibly via the Korean penninsula, in which case it would have come from China anyway) during the prehistoric era. Ever since the sixth century AD, this carbohydrate quickly became, and continues to be, a staple in Japanese food.

After wheat, rice (“Kome” in Japanese) is the second most important grain crop in the world. Approximately 1/3 of the world depends on this annual plant. Despite a large dependence on rice, Japan only became self-sufficient in rice production in the late 1960s.

Originally, salmon were only found in the cold waters of the northern hemisphere. With the advent of salmon farms however, salmon can now be found in the southern hemisphere. The history of salmon in Japan is extensive, going back to the times of the Ainu (the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido who believed their gods morphed into salmon).

Young salmon will live for three to six years in the sea before swimming upstream, returning to their birthplace to spawn and die. Newly hatched salmon will then return to the sea to live until they are mature enough to continue their unique cycle of life. Read the rest of this entry

Long noodles in steaming hot soup! In Japan, just about everyone loves ramen. Ramen shops can be found nation wide. One bowl cost about ¥500 – ¥1,000. Ramen is popular with young and old alike. There are people in Japan who eat ramen almost every day. One ramen fanatic actually ate 1,400 servings in a year!

The roots of ramen lay in China, but ramen as we know it today, developed independently in Japan. Today, there are ramen shops all over the country resulting in a tremendous variety of ramen. Read the rest of this entry

Airplane food…enough said. It sucks, right? It’s either bland, not hot enough, cold and shouldn’t make it past airport security in the first place.

North American airlines haven’t done much to improve their culinary offerings (likely due to cost cutting). However, it’s a hard fact to swallow when their asian counterparts have stepped-up their game when it comes to catering to the customer.

Take for instance Japan Airlines (JAL).

I’ve sampled their food in economy class on more than one occasion…so I thought I’d try their Four Seasons Executive Class fare.

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