No meat from mammals

Did you know that when Europe was into Medieval Age, the Japan was officially vegetarian? Any history of food in Japan has to include the many centuries when eating the meat of four-legged animals was forbidden. The first law prohibiting meat eating was issued in the year 675, a little more than 100 years after…

A Brief History Of Japanese Food

The global popularity of Japanese food has never been greater, as underscored by the recent decision of the United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO, to add traditional Japanese cuisine to its “intangible world heritage” list. It’s easy to think that the Japanese cuisine we know and enjoy today has an ancient, dynamic, and delicious history and…

Rice as Main Ingredient

The people of East and Southeast Asia look on a typical meal as one with rice as the main actor, and side dishes playing a secondary role. The typical Japanese meal is no exception. Rice is boiled and steamed, and goes straight from the pot into waiting bowls, with no flavor added. Fish and vegetable…

Recipe: Yakiniku

The freshness of the meat is very important to the dish. By lightly grilling the dish, you can enjoy the soft flavor of Japanese beef. The most popular dishes are sirloin (known as rosu in Japanese) and kalbi (Korean-style marinated meat), but at a yakiniku restaurant..

Robatayaki is not quite a type of food, but more of a type of restaurant. At the restaurant, fish and vegetables are cooked over the fireplace and handed to customers with a large wooden spoon, known as a horikaeshibera. The ingredients are cooked directly on the charcoal...

Recipe: Robatayaki

Robatayaki is not quite a type of food, but more of a type of restaurant. At the restaurant, fish and vegetables are cooked over the fireplace and handed to customers with a large wooden spoon, known as a horikaeshibera. The ingredients are cooked directly on the charcoal…

A dish from Sendai where the beef tongue (gyutan) is prepared in a special way that softens the meat, and because of this, you can only find it in special beef tongue restaurants. In a typical dish, you will usually have rice cooked with barley (mugimeshi) and a beef tale soup along with the beef tongue. With the mugimeshi, you will usually be served...

Recipe: Gyutanyaki

A dish from Sendai where the beef tongue (gyutan) is prepared in a special way that softens the meat, and because of this, you can only find it in special beef tongue restaurants. In a typical dish, you will usually have rice cooked with barley (mugimeshi) and a beef tale soup along with the beef…