Table of Contents Cooking the Japanese Way 4 Eating the Japanese Way 6 Regional Foods 8 Tea and Treats 10 Getting Ready to Cook 12 Okonomiyaki 14 Corn Potage 16 Temari-Zushi 18 Yakisoba 20 Glossary 22 To Learn More 23 Index 24
Cooking the Japanese Way At the heart of Japanese culture is balance Japanese people strive for this in many areas of life and especially at dinnertime Many follow Buddhist practices to find the balance they desire They use the number five as a guide in their search To them it is a symbol of perfect balance 4
New Flavor Kikunae Ikeda discovered the umami flavor while enjoying a bowl of dashi Japanese cooking engages all five senses It also features five main colors and offers five unique flavors Plates are colored by white black green red and yellow foods Dishes have salty sweet sour bitter and umami flavors The umami flavor tastes savory and is the Japanese word for yummy Foods are boiled grilled steamed fried or served raw A meal often includes foods prepared using at least four of these methods 5
