日本の食文化 | Japanese Food Culture

We traveled to Noda city which was the home of Kikkoman Soy Sauce Co. Ltd. We were also fortunate enough to sit in a presentation about Japanese food culture. The presenter talked about the history of 和食or traditional Japanese (foods that were created before Meiji resotration) foods like soba, sushi, tempura and unagi. Soba, made from buckwheat, originated from Edo. These home-made noodles were often served cold with tsuyu (sweetned soy sauce) in the Edo period but quicky had variations as time passed. Sushi, which is vinegared rice topped with fish, also originated in Edo (current Tokyo). They say that in the old days, 20 set of knives were used to process the fish untill it got to your plate. The tempura, deep fried vegetable or shrimp in batter is also another famous traditional Japanese dish that is now famous around the world. A dish that not many people know is grilled unagi (eel) in soy sauce. This dish is often eaten on hot summer days. In addition to the history of foods, we also learned that the Japanese dishes are healthy (mostly vegetable) and are aesthetically pleasing.