The history of Japanese cuisine

Japan savors its culinary traditions, whether indigenous, adapted, or borrowed, and these traditions are the roots of a cuisine that delights the senses. Think, if you will, of an exquisitely composed plate of shimmering, translucent slices of sashimi, adorned with a dollop of pungent wasabi horseradish that ignites an explosion in your mouth. Or picture, for example, a sparkling white block of tofu set inside a celadon bowl and topped with a dab of grated golden ginger in a pool of dark shoyu. In Japan, the eyes, nose, and palate feast along with the stomach.

Elements of taste, cooking techniques, and the aesthetics of shun (cooking with seasonal ingredients at their peak flavor and freshness) comprise the essence of Japanese culinary wisdom. With surprisingly few seasonings, Japanese cuisine still provides a delectable gustatory experience. Preserving the naturalness of flavors, the first element of taste, is a cook's top priority and is often accomplished with dashi (stock made from dried fish and/or kelp), the fundamental taste agent for most soups, boiled dishes, and many sauces. Other taste enhancers are shoyu, miso, sake, salt, mirin (sweet sake), vinegar, and sugar. It is not uncommon for a cook to use all of these seasonings in a number of dishes at one meal.

Quick preparation, a second element of taste, plays a significant role in Japanese cooking. Menrui, or noodle dishes, are a good example. Many rice dishes, such as onigiri (rice balls) or mochi (pounded rice cakes), are fast, portable, versatile foods.

The Japanese culinary tradition continues to absorb and adapt foreign foods, as it has done for all recorded history, and this is the third element of taste. Certain foreign foods, like tempura and tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets), are now popular dishes on a par with sushi or sashimi. These two beloved imports, though both deep-fried foods, reflect the scope of Japanese inspiration in the kitchen. Tender and moist on the inside, enveloped by a thin battered coating, tempura is a crispy, golden-brown morsel of shrimp or vegetables that is virtually greaseless. Tonkatsu, made with thick cuts of pork and coated with bread crumbs, juxtaposes a juicy, succulent interior with a firm, crunchy exterior. Not all imports succeeded--paella, from Spain, did not gain nationwide acceptance. For the...