Washoku: Japanese Recipes

By Darvin Babiuk

A collection of traditional Japanese recipes, from vegetable to seafood to pork, beef and chicken.

Traditional Japanese food is collectively known as washoku. Washoku is written in Japanese characters as 和食. The first character, 和 (wa), means both "Japan" and "harmony", and the second character 食 (shoku) means food. In 2013, in recognition of customs passed down in Japan for thousands of years, washoku was designated a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. As the name implies, washoku blends ingredients in a harmonious fashion.

Washoku has several main characteristics.

SEASONALITY: Japan has four distinct seasons, and the dishes served in washoku reflect that, using ingredients and produce suitable to the season.

INGREDIENTS: At the heart of a washoku meal is rice, the country's most important staple, accompanied by fish, seafood, and seaweed. Japan is an island nation and seafood is central to the traditional Japanese diet.

BALANCE: Traditional Japanese cuisine focuses on balance, with preparation techniques that aim to draw out the natural flavors of ingredients rather than masking them in heavy sauces.

AESTHETICS: Washoku is not only about the food's ingredients and taste, it's also about the visual beauty of the meal, the colours and arrangement of the ingredients, and the tableware and serving style.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Darvin Babiuk
• Release date: Oct 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386729839

Darvin Babiuk

"I have lived more places than Sinbad the Sailor."   Indeed, I have lived in every province in Canada -- other than the Maritime region -- and ten overseas countries.   International spy? Much more prosaic than that. Working as a trainer for Oil and Gas operations in the Middle East (including around Sinbad’s home port of Basra), North Africa and Asia, alternated with instructing at a variety of North American universities, has necessitated it. Along the way, I have picked up sensibilities from numerous cultures and have taken the opportunity to write about them. Along with being a columnist for newspapers in Japan and Ontario, I have written a variety of fiction and non-fiction in periodicals, journals and online sites. My written works are housed in the national archives of both Canada and Japan.

Book preview

SOUPS

MISO SOUP

  4 cups water

  1/2 cup chopped green chard or other sturdy green

  1/2 cup chopped green onion

  1/4 cup firm tofu (cubed)

  3-4 tbsp miso paste (fermented soy bean paste) with bonito (fish flavor)

  1 sheet nori (dried seaweed), cut into strips)

PLACE WATER IN A MEDIUM sauce pan and bring to a low simmer.

Add nori and simmer for 5-7 minutes.

In the meantime, place miso into a small bowl, add a little hot water and whisk until smooth. This will ensure it doesn’t clump. Set aside.

Add green chard, green onion, and tofu to the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Then remove from heat, add miso mixture, and stir to combine. 

Taste and add more miso or a pinch of sea salt if desired. Serve warm. Best when fresh.

AZUKI BEAN SOUP

110 grams. azuki beans

1 tbsp safflower oil

1 medium round onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 medium carrot, scraped and finely chopped

1 stick celery, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, skinned and crushed

1 small can tomatoes (230 grams)

1 tbsp tomato puree

pinch of thyme

1/2 tsp sweet basil

840 ml stock or water

salt and freshly milled black pepper

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley for garnish

PICK OVER BEANS AND soak in cold water four hours or overnight. Drain well

Heat the oil and stir-fry the onion, carrot and celery in a deep pan for three minutes. Add beans and remaining ingredients (except parsley) and season to taste. Bring to boiling point, then lower heat and simmer for one hour.

TO SERVE: Pour into a warmed soup tureen and sprinkle with parsley. Serves four.

BAMBOO SHOOT AND SEAWEED SOUP

1 1/4 cups of dashi soup stock

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1/2 tsp sugar

pinch of salt

110 grams bamboo shoot (boiled once)

one small handful of wakame seaweed

4 kinome leaves (Japanese herb from the prickly ash)

REFRESH wakame by rinsing in cold water and allowing to stand covered in cold water for 10-15 minutes. Drain. Cut away and discard any thick central stem. Cut wakame into finger-length pieces.

Thinly slice bamboo shoot lengthwise (pointed end of the shoot is the most tender and best for soup).

Heat the dashi stock and add soy sauce, mirin, sugar and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning to personal taste, if necessary.

Add bamboo and wakame to broth and simmer 10 minutes. Serve in lacquered soup bowls and float a kinome leaf on each bowl.

Serves four.

BASIC METHOD FOR PREPARING BAMBOO SHOOTS:

Rinse off dirt from shoot. Cut pointed tip off shoot (about 2 1/2 cm) and trim base by removing a thin