Tokyo - Japanese cuisine is distinctive in taste and appearance but is not something we know well in South Africa. So it was with delight that the programme on a recent trip to a women’s conference in Japan afforded some time to sample a variety of food.
After a long flight a colleague and I stayed in the first night and ate at Satsuki, one of a large selection of restaurants at the hotel New Otani Tokyo where our group of foreign journalists was based.
We chose a Japanese starter platter to share, followed by chilled ramen noodles (pictured) and a Japanese-style soup curry with chicken (each costing about R280 which we also shared).
Satsuki was where we were to enjoy many buffet breakfasts in the days ahead. At about R300 they weren’t cheap but did have about 150 items from fruit and cereal to eggs – any which way you want – meats, breads, pastries and Japanese breakfast dishes such as congee (rice porridge), rice, miso soup, tofu, fish, udon noodles and vegetables.
I was cautious about eating soup, rice, thick chewy noodles with dried fish and seaweed first thing in the morning, but I did enjoy the sweet Japanese tamagoyaki omelette made by rolling layers of egg to form a block which is sliced and goes well with a bit of soy sauce.
Hosts of our group, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa), treated us to a number of traditional Japanese lunches. We were also impressed with the feast of delicacies from different prefectures of Japan served to delegates attending the conference.
I admit to having had little prior knowledge of Japanese food – aside from sushi, of course – so with chopsticks sort-of mastered, I was game to try every titbit.
Japanese cuisine or “washoku” has been awarded Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage status and relies not just on its taste but also it’s visual appeal – “you don’t just taste it but you see it too”.
Freshness and respect for natural flavours is key, as is beautiful presentation. Portions are modest and small amounts of food are placed precisely in bowls or on small plates and garnished in a way that shows them off best. (I hadn’t realised it before but Noritake tableware we know has its origins in Japan, and now I understand why.)
Washoku is about good eating and with so many dieting plans in the news, one wonders why the low-fat, low-calorie Japanese diet has not received more attention in the West (especially when one considers longevity among the Japanese and that I did not see one fat person all week… well, not until I was waiting at the boarding gate for the flight home). A traditional Japanese meal is made up of three items: rice, fish (cooked or raw) or meat, and vegetables, tofu (soybean curd) and pickles.
The basis of many Japanese dishes is stock (called dashi) made by using kombu (kelp or seaweed) or katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), baby sardines or dried shiitake mushrooms.
To this is added miso, a traditional Japanese seasoning produced from fermenting soybeans, and one is left with an earthy taste which is so distinctive in Japanese dishes.
Fluffy rice (mainly Japonica) is served with every meal: there’s morning rice, midday rice, evening rice, celebratory rice with red beans… it can be heaped in a bowl, or moulded into round or triangular shapes and the saying goes, “if you don’t have rice, you haven’t eaten”.
Our meals varied in size and grandeur: from a simple school lunch to an elaborate multicourse traditional Japanese one.
Lunch with Mofa’s assistant press secretary, Takako Ito, consisted of several courses all beautifully presented: carpaccio of fish with white balsamic sauce, organic salad, grilled chicken, dried anchovies on steamed rise, miso soup, and dessert; all of it tasty bar – I regret to admit – the conger eel which really was not to my taste.
At a vegetarian restaurant in Kamakura tofu replaced meat and dishes included fig and tofu, soup with ofu (a wheat dumpling) and soup with melon; a reminder of my first meal where watermelon was served with thinly-sliced beef.
The Kamakura day was hot, so we sampled ice cream from shops lining the street to the famous Giant Buddha. Among the flavours were milk and salt, sweet potato, and green tea which is apparently a favourite flavour of US President Barack Obama. The stall where he bought an ice cream on a visit to the town proudly bears his picture.
Other lunches included eye-popping buffets at Seabornia Men’s Club (women welcome) and Asakusa View Hotel with a dazzling array of visually appealing and tasty dishes and its view of the Tokyo SkyTree.
Our evenings were our own to explore and we walked to Akasaka or headed by metro to Ginza and Shinjuku where we tried out street restaurants and food courts.
A good tip is that many stores have food courts where for about R200 one can get a solid meal.
Outside are plastic displays of the menu so even if there’s no English menu, you can get a good idea of what’s available.
Everywhere there’s a blending of Eastern and Western styles, and we tried crunchy tempura, yakitori or skewered bite-sized pieces of chicken meat (including gizzards), and all variety of soups.
We drank water (Tokyo’s water is fit to drink from the tap), along with apple juice, green tea – hot and cold – saki (rice wine) and local lagers.
What we did not do was go into KFC, McDonalds or Burger King for its Ninja Burger, made on a bun blackened by bamboo charcoal.
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